Podcasts

Nigel Cassidy joined Sarah Pennells to discuss the main market headlines of the morning, starting with BT - they've received a rather hefty fine. We've also heard from SouthWest trains this morning, who've made a rather surprising announcement. And it's been a shaky start for the FTSE this morning. Earlier, Nigel was speaking with Rachel Winter - of Kilik and Co - and Paul Sedgwick . What did they put this down to?

Businesses are 'sleepwalking' into disaster as Brexit approaches. That's according to new data from the Cranfield School of Management and the British Standards Institution - that safeguards standards in business. They also found less than one-third of CEOs were confident of leading their firms to long term success. The report argues companies aren't taking enough risks because of 'rigid' ways of thinking. James Brydges spoke to Howard Kerr, CEO of the British Standards Institution.

Last Friday, Caspian Sunrise, formerly known as Roxi Petroleum, doubled their size by merging with Eragon Petroleum Ltd - hence the name change. By changing the company name, the company intends to 'send a clear signal of its intent to reintroduce itself as a larger and transformed entity poised to accelerate growth onto a new level'. Joining Nigel Cassidy is Clive Carver, Chairman of Caspian Sunrise to discuss the newly-named company's plans.

Now, who'd like to own the Co-Op bank? The financial institution says potential buyers have expressed an interest but as yet there was "no certainty that an offer will be made". The Co-OP put itself up for sale last month. James Brydges spoke to Mike Ingram, Market strategist at BGC Partners about what the problems were, and who might finally take the plunge.

Twitter's thinking of adding a paid membership option for businesses and power users. The micro-blogging service is canvassing opinion about charging people for access to enhanced version of Tweetdeck. The social network has struggled to grow its user base in recent years, while advertising revenues have declined. James Brydges spoke to tech journalist Chris Green.

According to the latest CBI and PWC Financial Services Survey, sentiment in the financial services sector stabilised in the three months to March, due to a broadly resilient UK economy. So even in the wake of Theresa May announcing she will trigger Article 50 on March 29th, optimism amongst firms seems unchanged. Although things seem rosy now, what is the future looking like for businesses involved in financial services? To discuss further, Nigel Cassidy was joined by Andrew Kail, Head of Financial Services at PwC.

On the latest Market Wrap, the US healthcare debate is dominating the agenda as markets await the results of a vote on Trumpcare this evening. Plus, British housebuilding company Crest Nicholson has been hit with a shareholder rebellion over its latest pay package for directors. Finally, the Co-operative Bank says a number of "credible" bidders are eyeing a takeover.

It's time to talk politics. Today: French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen has visited the Kremlin to meet with Vladimir Putin; and with Republicans now struggling to agree on an Obamacare replacement, President Trump has stepped in to offer an ultimatum: pass the bill today, or keep Obamacare in place.

On this week's Serious Money, Claer Barrett previewed what's on the pages of the Financial Times' weekend money supplement, including how to understand PCP (Persona Contract Purchase) car financing deals, and Merryn Sommerset Webb's article on the current situation of the stock market.

Ian Forrest, Investment Research Analyst at the Share Centre, reviews this week's stock market activity with Share Radio's Simon Rose. They take a look at Kingfisher, Next, Vodafone, Wolseley, Saga, and TUI.