1.
Public limited company
–
A public limited company is a type of public company under the United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a liability company whose shares may be freely sold and traded to the public, with a minimum share capital of £50,000. Similar companies in the United States are called publicly traded companies, public limited companies will also have a separate legal identity. A PLC can be either an unlisted or listed company on the stock exchanges, in the United Kingdom, a public limited company usually must include the words public limited company or the abbreviation PLC or plc at the end and as part of the legal company name. Welsh companies may choose to end their names with ccc. However, some public limited companies incorporated under special legislation are exempted from bearing any of the identifying suffixes. The term public limited company and the PLC/plc suffix were introduced in 1981, prior to this, all limited companies bore the suffix Limited, which is still used by private limited companies. When a new company incorporates in England and Wales or in Scotland, it must register with Companies House, Formation of a public limited company requires a minimum of one director and one secretary. In England and Wales and in Scotland, the male/female is under 16 years old, some people who are not British citizens are restricted as to what work they may do while in the UK, which may exclude them from being a director. The members must agree to some, or all, of the shares when the company is registered. The memorandum of association must show the names of the people who have agreed to take shares and these people are called the subscribers. There is a share capital for public limited companies, Before it can start business. A quarter of them, £12,500, must be paid up, each allotted share must be paid up to at least one quarter of its nominal value together with the whole of any premium. A company can increase its share capital by passing an ordinary resolution. A copy of the resolution – and notice of the increase on Form 123 – must reach Companies House within 15 days of being passed, no fee is payable to Companies House. A company can decrease its authorised share capital by passing a resolution to cancel shares which have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person. Notice of the cancellation, on Form 122, must reach Companies House within one month, no fee is payable to Companies House. A company may have as different types of shares as it wishes
2.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
England
–
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera
–
Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera, PC is a British investment banker and politician. Until September 2009, she was a government minister jointly for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and she has been Chairwoman of Santander UK since March 2015. She was born in Uganda in 1962 into a family of Indian origin and she is from a family who owned a small tea plantation but fled to India in 1972 following the Ugandan governments expulsion of Ugandan Asians, and then later to the UK. She was educated at Northwood College before taking a degree in Philosophy, Politics, for over 14 years Vadera was employed at investment bank UBS Warburg, where her work included advising governments of developing countries, and debt relief and restructuring. She also played a role in the privatisation of South African Telecom. Following his appointment as Prime Minister in June 2007, Gordon Brown appointed her as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development. As she was not a member of either of the Houses of Parliament, she was created a peer on 11 July 2007 as Baroness Vadera, of Holland Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ”After six months as a Minister in International Development, she was moved to the Department for Business, Enterprise. In October 2008, she became a Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office. Baroness Vadera, Well, its a very uncertain world right now globally, I am seeing a few green shoots but its a little bit too early to say exactly how theyll grow. Her reply generated commentary from a number of sources, including shadow chancellor George Osborne and former chancellor Norman Lamont, Lamont said, It is extremely premature to use a phrase like that. Later that year Londons Evening Standard reported that Vadera was instrumental in the creation of an unprecedented banking rescue package, on 24 September 2009, it was announced that she would be stepping down as minister to take up a new role advising the G20. In April 2010, the Financial Times reported that Vadera had taken up a consultancy to give advice in restructuring Dubai Worlds US$26 billion debt. In July, the Daily Telegraph reported Vadera had become consultant to Singaporean investment company Temasek. said Martin Armstrong of recruitment consultants Somerton Partners, in December 2010, she was appointed to the Boards of BHP Billiton and AstraZeneca as a non-executive director. In December 2014, it was announced that she would become Non-Executive Chairman of Santander UK and she joined the board in January 2015 and succeeded Burns on 30 March 2015. In 2016, she was chosen as one of BBCs 100 Women parliamentary profile
6.
Chairman
–
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, a committee, or a deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chair presides over meetings of the group and conducts its business in an orderly fashion. When the group is not in session, the officers duties include acting as its head, its representative to the outside world. In some organizations, this position is called president, in others, where a board appoints a president. Other terms sometimes used for the office and its holder include chair, chairperson, chairwoman, presiding officer, president, moderator, facilitator, the chairman of a parliamentary chamber is often called the speaker. The term chair is used in lieu of chairman, in response to criticisms that using chairman is sexist. In his 1992 State of the Union address, then-U. S, president George H. W. Bush used chairman for men and chair for women. A1994 Canadian study found the Toronto Star newspaper referring to most presiding men as chairman, the Chronicle of Higher Education uses chairman for men and chairperson for women. An analysis of the British National Corpus found chairman used 1,142 times, chairperson 130 times, the National Association of Parliamentarians does not approve using chairperson. In World Schools Style debating, male chairs are called Mr. Chairman, the FranklinCovey Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication, as well as the American Psychological Association style guide, advocate using chair or chairperson, rather than chairman. The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style suggests that the forms are gaining ground. It advocates using chair to refer both to men and to women, the word chair can refer to the place from which the holder of the office presides, whether on a chair, at a lectern, or elsewhere. During meetings, the person presiding is said to be in the chair and is referred to as the chair. Major dictionaries state that the word derives from chair and man, some authorities, however, including Riddicks Rules of Procedure, suggest that the second part of chairman derives from the Latin manus, and thus claim gender-neutrality for the word. Vladimir Lenin, for example, officially functioned as the head of Soviet Russia not as tsar or as president, note in particular the popular standard method for referring to Mao Zedong, Chairman Mao. In the absence of the chairman and vice chairman, groups sometimes elect a chairman pro tempore to fill the role for a single meeting. In some organizations that have titles, deputy chairman ranks higher than vice chairman, as there are often multiple vice chairs
7.
Pound sterling
–
It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
8.
Earnings before interest and taxes
–
In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
9.
Net income
–
In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
10.
Banco Santander
–
The Santander Group /ˌsɑːntɑːnˈdɛər/ is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S. A. As its name suggests, the company originated in Santander, Cantabria, the group has expanded since 2000 through a number of acquisitions, with operations across Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia. Many subsidiaries, such as Abbey National, have been rebranded under the Santander name, the company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. In May 2016, Santander was ranked as 37th in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the Worlds biggest public companies, Banco Santander was founded in 1857. In 1999 it merged with Banco Central Hispano, which had in turn been formed through the 1991 merger of Banco Central, soon after the merger former BCH executives accused Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botín of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action. The large termination payouts generated negative press and Botín was eventually brought to trial on charges of misappropriation of funds. However, in April 2005 the court cleared him of all charges, also that year, the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutors office cleared Botín of all charges in a separate case, in which he was accused of insider trading. In 2007 the bank changed the official name back to Banco Santander S. A. In 1996 Banco Santander acquired Grupo Financiero InverMexico, in 2000, Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired Grupo Financiero Serfin of Mexico. On 26 July 2004 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced the acquisition of Abbey National plc, following shareholders approval at the EGM of Abbey and Santander, the acquisition was formally approved by the courts and Abbey became part of the Santander Group on 12 November 2004. In June 2006, Banco Santander Central Hispano purchased almost 20% of Sovereign Bank, in May 2007 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced that in conjunction with The Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortis it would make an offer for ABN AMRO. BSCHs share of the offer added up to 28% and the offer would have to be made up of a capital increase through a new share issue, then in October 2007 the consortium outbid Barclays and acquired ABN AMRO. As part of the deal, Grupo Santander acquired ABN AMROs subsidiary in Brazil, Banco Real, on 13 August 2007, Banco Santander Central Hispano changed its legal name to Banco Santander. In November that year, it sold Banca Antonveneta to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, in July 2008 the group announced it intended to purchase the UK bank Alliance & Leicester, which held £24bn in deposits and had 254 branches. Santander also purchased the business of Bradford & Bingley in September 2008. The acquisition of Alliance & Leicester completed in October 2008 when the B&Bs shares were delisted from the London Stock Exchange, by the end of 2010 the two banks merged with Abbey National under the Santander UK brand. In October 2008, the Group announced to acquire 75. 65% of Sovereign Bancorp it did not own for approximately US$1.9 billion, the acquisition of Sovereign gave Santander its first retail bank in the mainland United States. Santander renamed the bank to enhance its global recognition in October 2013
11.
Cahoot
–
Cahoot is the internet division of Santander UK plc, the British subsidiary of the Santander Group. Cahoot was launched in June 2000, as the internet-based banking brand of Abbey National plc, Cahoot is based in Coventry, England. Cahoot offered interest-free overdrafts and credit cards at launch to its first 25,000 customers, there have been several instances of security or operational failures with the website. The initial launch of the bank in 2000 resulted in the website crashing, from 15 —16 October 2008, the secure section of the Cahoot website became unavailable, due, according to Cahoot, to a power outage in Spain. Although the main page of the website operated normally, it proved impossible for customers to log in to access their savings, leaving them unable to access their accounts, call centre staff were also unable to carry out any transactions for customers. Customers were able to access their accounts again normally on 17 October 2008 and it was consistently rated in Consumers Association and Guardian surveys in the top three best banks in the United Kingdom, for service and pricing. Initially led by Tim Murley, the bank was taken over by Tim Sawyer in November 2002, Abbey was renamed under its parents brand in January 2010, although Cahoot and other specialist brands of the bank were retained by Santander. However, bad debt has affected profitability and marketing spend has largely ceased, Cahoot operates as a division of Santander UK, and shares Santanders banking licence and headquarters. Its business model involves a small operational staff, with IT services initially in 2003 outsourced to IBM using their Software on Demand model. As of May 2013, Cahoot only offer savings accounts for new customers, Cahoot also provided a Webcard facility which generated a one-use card number for each online transaction, as a measure to combat card fraud. The feature was withdrawn in October 2009, the flexible loan was designed as a credit facility, a bit like a credit card, to borrow and repay as necessary, offering attractive interest rates at first. New credit card business had ceased in 2006, although customers could continue using their credit card limits, Cahoot also provided current accounts, though it withdrew these from new business in February 2010. Before January 2010, Cahoot informed customers that their loan limits had been reviewed, Cahoot have now discontinued all products being available to new customers. On 7 June 2015 cahoot ceased to pay interest on current account balances, Cahoot introduced the Faster Payments Service on 1 January 2012, the latest date possible under Financial Services Authority regulations
12.
Cater Allen
–
Cater Allen is a private bank operating in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Santander UK, tracing its history back to a bank founded in Blackburn in 1816, it was independent for 180 years, before being purchased in 1997 by Abbey National. Cater Allen Offshore was initially run as a separate enterprise within Abbey, the Cater Allen name came about relatively late in the banks history - from Cater Ryders 1981 acquisition of Allen, Harvey and Ross
13.
Spain
–
By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
14.
London Borough of Camden
–
The London Borough of Camden /ˈkæmdən/ is a borough in north west London, and forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of central London, the local authority is Camden London Borough Council. The borough was created in 1965 from the area of the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St Pancras. The borough was named after Camden Town, which had gained its name from Charles Pratt, the transcribed diaries of William Copeland Astbury, recently made available, describe Camden and the surrounding areas in great detail from 1829–1848. There are 162 English Heritage blue plaques in the borough of Camden representing the diverse personalities that have lived there. The area is in the part of the city, reaching from Holborn. Neighbouring areas are the City of Westminster and the City of London to the south, Brent to the west, Barnet and Haringey to the north and Islington to the east. It covers all or part of the N1, N6, N7, N19, NW1, NW2, NW3, NW5, NW6, NW8, EC1, WC1, WC2, W1 and it contains parts of central London. Camden Town Hall is located in Judd Street in St Pancras, Camden London Borough Council was controlled by the Labour Party continuously from 1971 until the 2006 election, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party. In 2006, two Green Cllrs, Maya de Souza and Adrian Oliver, were elected and were the first Green Party councillors in Camden, Camden was the fourth to last council to drop out of the campaign, doing so in the early hours of 6 June. Borough councillors are elected every four years, between 2006 and 2010 Labour lost two seats to the Liberal Democrats through by-elections, in Kentish Town and Haverstock wards. A Labour Councillor in Haverstock ward also defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2009, at the local elections on 6 May 2010 the Labour party regained full control of Camden council. The new council is made up of 30 Labour,13 Liberal Democrats,10 Conservatives, at the Councils AGM, Labours Nasim Ali took office as Camdens first leader from the Bengali community. Labour Councillor Jonathan Simpson was elected the Mayor of the Borough, the organisations staff are led by the Chief Executive who is currently Mike Cooke. Each directorate is divided into a number of divisions headed by an assistant director and they in turn are divided into groups which are themselves divided into services. This is a model to most local government in London. Pancras in the south, represented by Labours Keir Starmer, in 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise throughout the 19th century as the district became built up
15.
Abbey National
–
Abbey National plc was a bank based in the United Kingdom and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. As the former Abbey National Building Society, it was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, the bank expanded through a number of acquisitions in the 1990s, including James Hay, Scottish Mutual, Scottish Provident and the rail leasing company Porterbrook. Abbey National launched an online bank, Cahoot, in June 2000, in September 2003, the bank rebranded as Abbey, and in November 2004, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group, with a rebrand following in February 2005. In January 2010, the business of Bradford & Bingley was combined with the bank. Prior to the takeover, Abbey National plc was a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, in 1856, it formed the British Land Company, which separated in 1878. Meanwhile, the Abbey Road & St. Johns Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society was founded in 1874, in 1932, the society moved into new headquarters, Abbey House, at 219–229 Baker Street, London, which it occupied until 2002. The site was thought to include 221B Baker Street, the home of Sherlock Holmes. The Abbey National Building Society was formed following the merger in 1944 of what had become Abbey Road Building Society, during the 1970s and 1980s, Abbey National gained a reputation for innovation and, sometimes disruptive, change. It was a user of computer systems and in the late 1970s. Under Chief general manager Clive Thornton, new types of accounts were introduced as well as a cheque account. The administration of the account was restricted by building society rules. Later, Abbey became a member of the Bankers Automated Clearing Services. Thornton also acted to break the building societies interest rate consensus, the Abbey National Building Society became the first of the United Kingdom building societies to demutualise, and became a public limited company as Abbey National plc on 12 July 1989. It was floated on the London Stock Exchange at £1.30 per share, the demutualisation process was marred by the discovery of a large number of undelivered share certificates awaiting destruction at a contractors premises. Abbey National shares peaked at more than £14 in 2000, before the market began a long decline. In July 1994, Abbey National purchased James Hay, one of the United Kingdoms foremost independent providers of self administered pensions. James Hay then went on to grow in straight and launched Abbey Wrap, the first Wrap a service in which IFAs can keep the clients ISAs, PEPs, Offshore bonds, Abbey Wrap Managers was FSA approved in August 2003. This was relaunched as James Hay Wrap in June 2005, in February 1995, Abbey National Baring Derivatives were taken down along with Barings Bank, due to failures in regulation and control, especially in regards to Nick Leeson of Barings Bank
16.
Bradford & Bingley
–
Bradford & Bingley plc was a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley. The branch network was rebranded Santander on 11 January 2010 and the Bradford & Bingley name now solely relates to the section of the bank. In May 1997 the Society bought Mortgage Express from Lloyds TSB for £64 million, the issue had not been helped when TPG Capital, who had previously agreed to take a 23% stake in the Company, withdrew their support. Due to the effects of the crunch, in September 2008 the companys share price dropped to a record low. On 25 September they announced that 370 jobs were to go, the bank had also been seeking options from the Financial Services Authority and the government to secure the future of the company. Options included selling the company to bank or nationalisation. With Bradford & Bingley being nationalised, the structure was already in place from the involved in the nationalisation of the Northern Rock bank in February. The European regulators approved the governments plan for Bradford & Bingley after just 24 hours. There were reports from sources that Bradford & Bingley was to be nationalised in its entirety. On 29 September 2008 it was announced that the Spanish Santander Group would acquire all of Bradford & Bingleys £20 billion savings business, Santander paid £612 million, including the transfer of £208 million of capital relating to offshore companies. Bradford & Bingleys 197 retail branches,141 agencies and related employees were transferred to Santanders subsidiary Abbey, the mortgage book, personal loan book, headquarters, treasury assets and its wholesale liabilities were taken into public ownership and closed to new business. When the shares closed on 26 September they were worth 20 pence each, valuing the bank at £256 million, in March 2006 the bank had been valued at £3.2 billion. In November 2008 the government set up a new company, UK Financial Investments, to manage the shareholdings in Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingleys shareholders were not reimbursed for their shares which the government had taken over. Over 300 shareholders complained to the UK Shareholders Association that they had not received information relating to the fate of their holdings, clokeys assessment was published on 5 July 2010, finding that shareholders were not entitled to any compensation. On 11 January 2010, the business of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley was renamed Santander UK plc. Alliance & Leicester was rebranded at the end of November 2010, on 25 January 2010, the European Commission approved the state aid given to the bank. On 24 March 2010 UKFI announced the merger of the business with the bad bank of Northern Rock. The two businesses were merged together under a holding company, UK Asset Resolution, on 1 October 2010
17.
Alliance & Leicester
–
Alliance & Leicester plc was a UK-based bank and former building society, formed by the merger in 1985 of the Alliance Building Society and the Leicester Building Society. The business demutualised in 1997 when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange and it was listed in the FTSE250 Index, and had been listed in the FTSE100 Index from April 1997 until June 2008. The bank was acquired by the Santander Group in October 2008 and it was fully integrated and rebranded as Santander by late 2011. The banks international subsidiary based in Douglas, Isle of Man, Alliance & Leicester International, the former building society was formed by the merger of the Alliance Building Society and the Leicester Building Society on 1 October 1985. In 1990, the society acquired Girobank, a provider of cash-handling services to the government and large companies and current accounts. With other large building societies such as Halifax and Woolwich, Alliance & Leicester decided to float on the London Stock Exchange, flotation took place on 21 April 1997. Alliance & Leicester had to be offered a secret £3 billion credit line by HM Treasury in November 2007 to prevent insolvency, on 14 July 2008 the board of A&L recommended that shareholders accept a takeover bid from Banco Santander for around £1.26 billion. This recommendation was ratified by shareholders at meetings on 16 September 2008, the takeover took effect on 10 October 2008 when shares of the company were delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Until this time Alliance & Leicester was as an institution with its own banking licence while at the same time migrating customer accounts to the Partenon software system. Abbey and the Bradford & Bingley savings business were rebranded in January 2010, branches of Alliance & Leicester were rebranded at the end of 2010. The four business sectors were mortgage lending and investments, personal banking, commercial banking, Alliance & Leicester provided current accounts, general insurance, life assurance, unit trusts, asset financing and commercial lending. The bank also operated Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, credit cards were also provided through a partnership with MBNA until the acquisition by Santander. Cards were subsequently reissued with MBNA branding, while Alliance & Leicester began solely providing Santander branded credit cards, selected investment products were also provided, together with those from Legal & General, which the bank had a partnership with. Alliance & Leicester operated a subsidiary based on the Isle of Man
18.
J.D. Power and Associates
–
J. D. Power and Associates is an American-based global marketing information services company founded in 1968 by James David Power III. The company conducts surveys of customer satisfaction, product quality, the firm is best known for its customer satisfaction research on new-car quality and long-term dependability. Its service offerings include industry-wide syndicated studies, proprietary research, consulting, training and it was ISO9001 certified in 2002, however, this certification has expired. McGraw Hill Financial purchased it from James David Power III in April 2005, the firm is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. Private investment group XIO Group acquired J. D. Power in 2016, J. D. Power and Associates marketing research consists primarily of consumer surveys. J. D. Power ratings are based on the responses of randomly selected and/or specifically targeted consumers. J. D. Power relies on consumer reporting for study results as well as vehicle testing for opinion based reviews in blogs. Companies which have used J. D. Power surveys range from automotive, cellphone, to be able to use the J. D. Power logo and to quote the survey results in advertising, companies must pay a licensing fee to J. D. Power. These advertisement licensing fees, however, form a part of J. D. Powers revenues. J. D. Power conducts multiple annual surveys of the industry in the U. S. as well as in other countries. Other surveys include the APEAL survey, reflecting consumers attitudes towards a vehicles attributes, dealership service surveys, similar versions of the Vehicle Dependability and Initial Quality Studies are performed internationally, and usually released with the countrys name, followed by the same title, e. g. In the United Kingdom, the J. D. Power UK Car Customer Satisfaction Index reviews all cars that have reached two years of age at the time of publication, surveys are conducted in partnership with UK automotive publication What Car. which publishes the survey results. The UK car survey consists of comments and ratings entirely from the members of the public who bought the new two years previously. Satisfaction is based on a number of different criteria, and when the thousands of marks in each area for each car are added up to form an overall score. The list usually comprises about 130 cars and is published every year in the United Kingdom, the survey was produced in conjunction with the BBCs Top Gear Magazine for many years until the mid-2000s
19.
Government of the United Kingdom
–
Her Majestys Government, commonly referred to as the UK government or British government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the Prime Minister, who all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, the government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister, the Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, the current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the election on 7 May 2015. Prior to this, Cameron and the Conservatives led a government from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats. A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament, Britain is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament and this constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215. Parliament is split into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords, since the start of Edward VIIs reign, in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. Under the British system the government is required by convention and for reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply, by convention if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital, a government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house, the prime minister is held to account during Prime Ministers Question Time which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject
20.
Formula One
–
Formula One is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950. The formula, designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, the F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held worldwide on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads. The results of each race are evaluated using a system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the races are required to be held on tracks graded 1, the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world. Formula One cars are the fastest road racing cars in the world. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to approximately 375 km/h with engines currently limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 RPM, the cars are capable of lateral acceleration in excess of five g in corners. The performance of the cars is very dependent on electronics – although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008 – and on aerodynamics, suspension, the formula has radically evolved and changed through the history of the sport. F1 had a global television audience of 425 million people during the course of the 2014 season. Grand Prix racing began in 1906 and became the most popular internationally in the second half of the twentieth century. The Formula One Group is the holder of the commercial rights. Its high profile and popularity have created a major merchandising environment, since 2000 the sports spiraling expenditures and the distribution of prize money favoring established top teams have forced complaints from smaller teams and led several teams to bankruptcy. On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Liberty Media had completed its $8 billion acquisition of Delta Topco, the Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing of the 1920s and 1930s. The formula is a set of rules that all cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed upon after World War II during 1946, the first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958, national championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for years, but due to the increasing cost of competition
21.
Lewis Hamilton
–
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. A three-time Formula One World Champion, he is regarded by fellow and he won his first title with McLaren in 2008 before moving to Mercedes, where he won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, I want to race for McLaren. Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme, Hamiltons contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in a Formula One drive. Coming from a background, with a black father and white mother. In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season in dramatic fashion, following his second world title in 2014, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2015, he became the first British driver in history to win consecutive F1 titles, and he also became the first English driver to reach that milestone. He is the first driver in the history of F1 to have made the podium after starting 20th place or lower at least 3 times. He is the driver in the history of the sport to have won at least one race in each season he has competed to date, with McLaren from 2007 until 2012. He has more victories than any other British driver in the history of Formula One. His 54 Grand Prix victories is the second highest of all-time having surpassed Alain Prosts total of 51 at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, behind only Michael Schumacher at 91. Hamilton also holds the record for most wins in the season winning the World Championship. Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, although widely reported as being named after American sprinter Carl Lewis, Hamilton states that this is not the case. Hamiltons mother, Carmen, is white British, while his father, Anthony Hamilton, is black British, making him mixed-race, in early 2011, Nicolas signed with Total Control Racing to start a racing career in the 2011 Renault Clio Cup. Hamilton was raised a Roman Catholic, Hamiltons father bought him a radio-controlled car in 1991, which gave him his first taste of racing competition. Hamilton finished second in the national BRCA championship the following year and he said of the time, I was racing these remote-controlled cars and winning club championships against adults. As a result of this his father bought him his first go-kart as a Christmas present at the age of six and his father told him that he would support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school
22.
Wetherby
–
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the A1 Great North Road and it has a population of 11,155. The population of the Wetherby Civil Parish in 2011 was 10,772, Wetherby Bridge, which spans the River Wharfe, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed structure. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Knights Templar and later the Knights Hospitallers were granted land, the local preceptory founded in 1217 was at Ribston Park. In 1240 the Knights Templar were granted by Royal Charter of Henry III the right to hold a market in Wetherby, on Thursdays and a yearly fair was permitted lasting three days over the day of St James the Apostle. From 1318 to 1319 the North of England suffered many raids from the Scots, after the Battle of Bannockburn Wetherby was burned and many people taken and killed. According to the plaque at the entrance to the lane. In the English Civil War in 1644, before marching to Tadcaster and on to Marston Moor, in the heyday of the coaching era, Wetherby had up to forty inns and alehouses. The first recorded mail coach arrived in Wetherby in 1786, in 1824, William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire sold the town of Wetherby to finance work at Chatsworth. Wetherby provides the setting for the novel Oldbury by Annie Keary, during the First World War, many Wetherby men served with either the 5th or 9th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, which had great losses in Flanders. A war memorial designed by E. F. Roslyn was dedicated on 22 April 1922, in 1918, residents contributed to support the crew of the Racecourse class minesweeper HMS Wetherby despite hardship and shortages caused by the war. During the Second World War, nearby RAF Tockwith was renamed RAF Marston Moor to avoid confusion with RAF Topcliffe, part of the airfield is now a driver training centre and the old control tower is used as the offices. Parts of the runways can still be seen, clark Gable was stationed at Marston Moor, during the Second World War, as a member of the USAAF ground staff, with the rank of captain. He was transferred to RAF Polebrook in Northamptonshire, adolf Hitler offered a reward to anyone who was able to catch the airman. Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was stationed at Marston Moor for a short while before leaving to become commander of the 617 Dam Buster squadron. Wetherby had the stone frigate north of London, built on Hallfield Lane in 1942, named in turn, HMS Cabot, Demetrius, Rodney. The base was closed in 1958 and transferred to Chatham, throughout the 1960s the town council deliberated over how best to enlarge the town centre to cope with the needs of a growing population and to provide the town with a purpose built supermarket. Plans were put forward to enlarge the town over the ings, in the end it was decided to build a purpose built shopping precinct, which was built in the 1970s and underwent a significant redevelopment throughout 2003
23.
West Yorkshire
–
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is an inland and in relative terms upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in moors of the Pennines and has a population of 2.2 million, West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. West Yorkshire consists of five boroughs and shares borders with the counties of Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire. In the heart of the county is Leeds Bradford International Airport, West Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986 so its five districts became effectively unitary authorities. However, the county, which covers an area of 2,029 square kilometres, continues to exist in law. West Yorkshire includes the West Yorkshire Urban Area, which is the most built-up, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council inherited the use of West Riding County Hall at Wakefield, opened in 1898, from the West Riding County Council in 1974. Since 1987 it has been the headquarters of Wakefield City Council, the county initially had a two-tier structure of local government with a strategic-level county council and five districts providing most services. In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished, the functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs, joint-boards covering fire, police and public transport, and to other special joint arrangements. Organisations such as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive continue to operate on this basis, although the county council was abolished, West Yorkshire continues to form a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and a High Sheriff. Wakefields Parish Church was raised to cathedral status in 1888 and after the elevation of Wakefield to diocese, Wakefield Council immediately sought city status and this was granted in July 1888. However the industrial revolution, which changed West and South Yorkshire significantly, led to the growth of Leeds and Bradford, Leeds was granted city status in 1893 and Bradford in 1897. The name of Leeds Town Hall reflects the fact that at its opening in 1858 Leeds was not yet a city, the county borders, going anticlockwise from the west, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. It lies almost entirely on rocks of carboniferous age which form the southern Pennine fringes in the west, in the extreme east of the metropolitan county there are younger deposits of magnesian limestone. The Bradford and Calderdale areas are dominated by the scenery of the slopes of the Pennines, dropping from upland in the west down to the east. There is a conjunction of large scale industry, urban areas. The dense network of roads, canals and railways and urban development, the carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire coalfield further east have produced a rolling landscape with hills, escarpments and broad valleys. In this landscape there is evidence of both current and former industrial activity. There are numerous derelict or converted mine buildings and recently landscaped former spoil heaps, the scenery is a mixture of built up areas, industrial land with some dereliction, and farmed open country
24.
Newcastle upon Tyne
–
Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the English Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, the regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle also houses Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, the city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the trade in the 14th century. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the worlds largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. Newcastles economy includes corporate headquarters, learning, digital technology, retail, tourism and cultural centres, among its icons are Newcastle United football club and the Tyne Bridge. Since 1981 the city has hosted the Great North Run, a marathon which attracts over 57,000 runners each year. The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius and it was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain, Pons Aelius population at this period was estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrians Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road, the course of the Roman Wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend—the walls end—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the river Tyne and its settlements in ruin. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all, because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was known as Novum Castellum or New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a castle in 1087. The castle was again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city dates from this period. Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was Englands northern fortress, incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589
25.
Plymouth
–
Plymouths early history extends to the Bronze Age, when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World, during the English Civil War the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. The combined town took the name of Plymouth which, in 1928, the citys naval importance later led to its targeting and partial destruction during World War II, an act known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war the city centre was rebuilt and subsequent expansion led to the incorporation of Plympton. The city is home to 262,700 people, making it the 30th most populous area in the United Kingdom. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three MPs, Plymouths economy remains strongly influenced by shipbuilding and seafaring including ferry links to Brittany and Spain, but has tended toward a service-based economy since the 1990s. It has the largest operational base in Western Europe – HMNB Devonport and is home to Plymouth University. An unidentified settlement named TAMARI OSTIA is listed in Ptolemys Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city, at the time this village was called Sutton, meaning south town in Old English. The name Plym Mouth, meaning mouth of the River Plym was first mentioned in a Pipe Roll of 1211, the name Plymouth first officially replaced Sutton in a charter of King Henry VI in 1440. See Plympton for the derivation of the name Plym, during the Hundred Years War a French attack burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town. In 1403 the town was burned by Breton raiders, on 12 November,1439, the English Parliament made Plymouth the first town incorporated. The castle served to protect Sutton Pool, which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to the establishment of Plymouth Dockyard. In 1512 an Act of Parliament was passed for further fortifying Plymouth, defences on St Nicholas Island also date from this time, and a string of six artillery blockhouses were built, including one on Fishers Nose at the south-eastern corner of the Hoe. This location was further strengthened by the building of a fort in 1596, during the 16th century locally produced wool was the major export commodity. According to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the Hoe before engaging the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for the New World from Plymouth, during the English Civil War Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians and was besieged for almost four years by the Royalists. The last major attack by the Royalist was by Sir Richard Grenville leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, the civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by King Charles II in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on Drakes Island
26.
Royal Bank of Scotland
–
Royal Bank of Scotland, commonly abbreviated as RBS, is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland though there are branches in many towns and cities throughout England. The Equivalent Society became the Equivalent Company in 1724, and the new company wished to move into banking, the British government received the request favourably as the Old Bank, the Bank of Scotland, was suspected of having Jacobite sympathies. Accordingly, the New Bank was chartered in 1727 as the Royal Bank of Scotland, with Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay, on 31 May 1728, the Royal Bank of Scotland invented the overdraft, which was later considered an innovation in modern banking. It allowed William Hogg, a merchant in the High Street of Edinburgh, competition between the Old and New Banks was fierce and centred on the issue of banknotes. The policy of the Royal Bank was to drive the Bank of Scotland out of business. The Royal Bank built up large holdings of the Bank of Scotlands notes, to pay these notes, the Bank of Scotland was forced to call in its loans and, in March 1728, to suspend payments. Despite talk of a merger with the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank did not possess the wherewithal to complete the deal. By September 1728, the Bank of Scotland was able to start redeeming its notes again, with interest, the bank opened its first branch office outside Edinburgh in 1783 when it opened one in Glasgow, in part of a drapers shop in the High Street. Further branches were opened in Dundee, Rothesay, Dalkeith, Greenock, Port Glasgow, in 1821, the bank moved from its original head office in Edinburghs Old Town to Dundas House, on St. Andrew Square in the New Town. The building as seen along George Street forms the end of the central vista in New Town. It was designed for Sir Lawrence Dundas by Sir William Chambers as a Palladian mansion, an axial banking hall behind the building, designed by John Dick Peddie, was added in 1857, it features a domed roof, painted blue internally, with gold star-shaped coffers. The banking hall continues in use as a branch of the bank, the rest of the nineteenth century saw the bank pursue mergers with other Scottish banks, chiefly as a response to failing institutions. The assets and liabilities of the Western Bank were acquired following its collapse in 1857, by 1910, the Royal Bank of Scotland had 158 branches and around 900 staff. In 1969, the merged with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland to become the largest clearing bank in Scotland. The first London branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in 1874, an agreement was reached, under which English banks would not open branches in Scotland and Scottish banks would not open branches in England outside London. This agreement remained in place until the 1960s, although various cross-border acquisitions were permitted, the latter two were merged in 1970 to form Williams and Glyns Bank, but not rebranded as the Royal Bank of Scotland until 1985. Also in 2011, Royal Bank of Scotland prevented Basic Account holders from using the ATMs of most rival banks, in June 2012, computer problems prevented customers accessing accounts
27.
NatWest
–
National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a large retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank, since 2000 it has been part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Today it has more than 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small business accounts, in Ireland it operates through its Ulster Bank subsidiary. NatWest was named a runner-up for the Best Business Banking Provider category at the British Bank Awards 2016, the banks origins date back to 1658 with the foundation of Smiths Bank of Nottingham. Westminster Foreign Bank was restyled International Westminster Bank in 1973, duncan Stirling, outgoing chairman of Westminster Bank, became first chairman of the fifth largest bank in the world. In 1969 David Robarts, former chairman of National Provincial, assumed Stirlings position, in 1975 it was one of the first London banks to open a representative office in Scotland. It was a member of the Joint Credit Card Company which launched the Access credit card in 1972. The same banks, excluding Lloyds, were responsible for the introduction of the Switch debit card in 1988. Deregulation in the 1980s, culminating in the Big Bang in 1986, County Bank, its merchant banking subsidiary formed in 1965, acquired various stockbroking and jobbing firms to create the investment banking arm County NatWest. The Action Bank advertising campaign spearheaded a new marketing-led approach to business development, in 1982, the Frankfurt office of International Westminster Bank merged with Global Bank AG to form Deutsche Westminster Bank. In 1985, Banco NatWest España was formed and National Westminster Bank SA was incorporated in 1988, taking over the six branches in France. In 1989, International Westminster Bank was merged into National Westminster Bank by Act of Parliament, completed in 1980, the bank built the National Westminster Tower in London to serve as its international headquarters. Also worthy of note is National Westminster House in Birmingham, the building was sold to British Land in 2007, the banks expansion strategy hit trouble with the stock market crash of 1987 and involvement in the financial scandal surrounding the collapse of Blue Arrow. The Department of Trade and Industry report on the affair was critical of the management and resulted in the resignation of several members of the board. Later, the bank would divest its overseas subsidiaries, the North American operations were sold to Fleet Bank and Hong Kong Bank of Canada, and the Australian and New Zealand branches were sold to Salomon Smith Barney and the National Australia Bank. Thereafter the bank concentrated on its domestic business as the restyled NatWest Group. In 1993, the NatWest Tower was devastated by a Provisional IRA bomb, then, in 1997, NatWest Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm formed in 1992, revealed that a £50m loss had been discovered, revised to £90. 5m after further investigations. The banks move into complicated derivative products that it did not fully understand seemed to indicate poor management, by the end of 1997 parts of NatWest Markets had been sold, others becoming Greenwich NatWest in 1998
28.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group
–
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the UK and Ireland, its subsidiary companies are The Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Ulster Bank. The group issues banknotes in Scotland and Northern Ireland and, as of 2014 and it received significant support from the UK government, which, as of August 2015, holds and manages a 73% stake through UK Financial Investments. The Group had a capitalisation of approximately £20.4 billion as of 4 March 2014. In addition to its primary listing on the LSE, the company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1969, economic conditions were becoming difficult for the banking sector. In response, the National Commercial Bank of Scotland merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland, the resulting company had 662 branches. The merger resulted in a new holding company, National and Commercial Banking Group Ltd, the English and Welsh branches were reorganised, until 1985, as Williams & Glyns Bank, while the Scottish branches all transferred to the Royal Bank name. The holding company was renamed The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in 1979, during the late 1970s and early 1980s the Royal Bank was the subject of three separate takeover approaches. In 1979, Lloyds Bank, which had built up a 16. 4% stake in the Royal Bank. The offer was rejected by the board of directors on the basis that it was detrimental to the banks operations, however, when the Standard Chartered Bank proposed a merger with the Royal Bank in 1980, the board responded favourably. Standard Chartered Bank was headquartered in London, although most of its operations were in the Far East, however, the bid was scuppered by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation which tabled a rival offer. The bid by HSBC was not backed by the Bank of England and was rejected by the Royal Banks board. However the British government referred both bids to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, both were rejected as being against the public interest. The Bank did obtain an international partnership with Banco Santander Central Hispano of Spain, however this arrangement ended in 2005, when Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired UK bank Abbey National – and both banks sold their respective shareholdings. The first international office of the bank was opened in New York in 1960, subsequent international banks were opened in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Hong Kong. In 1988 the bank acquired Citizens Financial Group, a bank based in Rhode Island, since then, Citizens has acquired several other American banks and in 2004 acquired Charter One Bank to become the 8th largest bank in the United States. In the Asia-Pacific region, the bank has offices in, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, on 27 February 2014 after reporting a 2013 loss of £9bn the bank announced it would scale back its international presence
29.
Topshop
–
Topshop is a British multinational fashion retailer of clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories. It has around 500 shops worldwide – of which some 300 are in the UK – plus online operations in a number of its markets and its current CEO is Ian Grabiner, and is part of the Arcadia Group, which is controlled by Sir Philip Green. Topshop started as a extension of the department store Peter Robinson in the 1960s and originally sold fashion by young British designers, such as Mary Quant. Peter Robinson was a womens fashion chain that had acquired by Burton in 1946. Topshop was founded in 1964 as Peter Robinsons Top Shop, a brand within the Sheffield branch. This was high fashion for the young and different generation as The Times put it in 1965, by 1966, it had a branch in the Peter Robinson store in Norwich. Other brands stocked at Top Shop included Jeff Banks, French Connection, in 1973, parent company Burton Group launched a major expansion of its womenswear division, splitting Top Shop by Peter Robinson into two chains to be known as Peter Robinson and Top Shop. It was announced that while Peter Robinson would target the over 25s market, Top Shop would focus on the age range from 13 to 24, with Ralph Halpern directing the new venture. By 1974, Peter Robinson had been reduced from 22 stores to six and its key retail rivals included Miss Selfridge and the Way In boutique arm of Harrods. Within two years, Top Shop had 55 standalone branches, with more to come according to an article in The Times, Fashion editor Prudence Glynn described it as having a, sharp definition of purpose. It made profits of £1m that year, by 1978, Top Shop accounted for a third of Burtons operating profits. It was described by an executive as, more of a brother to Top Shop than a son of Burton, the following year, Burton announced sales and profits up by 30 percent in womenswear, with Topman also being cited as highly profitable. By the start of the 1980s, the brand was being referred to as Topshop, in the 1980s, Topshop struggled to maintain its profile as a fashion brand, but by the late 1990s it began undergoing a revival. This turnaround is often credited to the promotion of Jane Shepherdson as brand director, having begun her career as a buyer, she rose through the ranks at the company. When she took on direction, Topshop had an annual profit of £9 million. This sponsorship continues and since 2005 it has been part of the London Fashion Week catwalk schedule, as of 2012, it is part-owned by a US-based private equity group. In 2015, Topshop started collaborating with the online retailer Zalando, advertisements featuring model Cara Delevingne were broadcast in Germany, Switzerland and France. Topshop has been among the UK chain stores to work with brands on capsule collections
30.
House of Fraser
–
House of Fraser is a British department store group with over 60 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur, by 1891, it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century, but after the Second World War, between 1936 and 1985 over seventy companies, not including their subsidiaries, were acquired. The companys acquisitions have included numerous household names, some of which are no longer used as part of the companys long-term strategy of re-branding its stores under the House of Fraser name. D H Evans Oxford Street store in London was rebranded as House of Fraser in 2001, House of Frasers largest store is located in Birmingham. The Company was founded by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur in 1849 as a drapery shop on the corner of Argyle Street and Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland trading as Arthur. Hugh Fraser had been apprenticed to Stewart & McDonald Ltd, a Glasgow drapery warehouse where he rose to the position of warehouse manager and from where he brought many of initial customers. James Arthur also owned a drapery business in Paisley, near Glasgow. The Company established a trade in adjoining premises in Argyle Street. In 1856 the wholesale business moved to a site in Miller Street, Glasgow. The retail side of the business expanded into the vacant buildings left by the wholesale side, during the late 1850s and early 1860s the retail business was run by a professional manager – first Thomas Kirkpatrick and then Alexander McLaren. In 1865 the partnership between the partners was dissolved and Fraser assumed control of the business leaving Arthur with the wholesale business. In 1865 Alexander McLaren joined the business and the name was changed to Fraser & McLaren. When the first Hugh Fraser died in 1873, his three eldest sons, James, John and Hugh, acquired stakes in the business, James and John Fraser were initially directors in the business and employed Alexander McLaren and later John Towers to manage it for them. In 1891 Hugh also joined the partnership which by then was called Fraser & Sons and he moved to London in 1878 to set up his own business in Westminster Bridge Road. The store traded under the D H Evans name until 2001, by 1900, Hugh Fraser II was in charge, he incorporated the business as Fraser & Sons Ltd in 1909 and introduced the famous stag’s head. After Hugh Fraser II died in 1927, his son Hugh Fraser III and he opened new departments, enlarged the tearoom, opened a restaurant and also began to look at possible acquisitions. In 1936 he purchased Arnott & Co Ltd and its neighbour Robert Simpson & Sons Ltd in nearby Argyle Street, in 1948 the Company, now named House of Fraser, was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
31.
Debenhams
–
Debenhams plc is a British multinational retailer operating under a department store format in the United Kingdom and Ireland with franchise stores in other countries. The company was founded in the century as a single store in London and has now grown to 178 locations across the UK, Ireland. It sells a range of clothing, household items and furniture and has known since 1993 for its Designers at Debenhams brand range. Headquartered in Regents Place in the London Borough of Camden, Debenhams is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, the company owns the Danish department store chain, Magasin du Nord, and has a subsidiary in Ireland. The business was formed in 1778 by William Clark, who began trading at 44 Wigmore Street in London as a drapers store, in 1813, William Debenham became a partner and the corporate name changed to Clark & Debenham. The shop was later renamed Cavendish House and carried drapery, silks, haberdashery, millinery, hosiery, lace, as the trade grew, the partners determined to expand the business by opening provincial branches in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. By 1823, Clark & Debenham had opened a drapery business at 3 Promenade Rooms, Cheltenham, selling a selection of silks, muslins, shawls, gloves, lace. By 1840, the management of the Cheltenham branch appears to have given to Clement Freebody. Around 1843, another branch shop was launched in Harrogate, extended and refurbished premises opened in Cheltenham in October 1844. Pooley and Smith retired from the business in 1851 when Debenham took his son, William, in 1876 when Freebody retired, a new partnership, Debenham & Hewitt, was formed. George Hewitt appears to have worked at the Cheltenham store as an assistant during the early 1860s. By 1883, George Hewitt was the owner of the Cheltenham business, Frank. The business was incorporated as Debenhams Limited in 1905, the modern Debenhams group grew from the acquisition of department stores in towns and cities throughout the UK, under the leadership of its chairman, Ernest Debenham. The first of these purchases, Marshall & Snelgrove at Oxford Street in London, was acquired through an on sided merger in 1919, later purchases included Harvey Nichols in Londons Knightsbridge in 1920. Most of the acquired stores retained their identities until a unified corporate image was rolled out. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1928, in 1976 the company acquired Browns of Chester. It remains the only UK store to have retained an individual identity, the business diversified during the 1970s buying South East based supermarket group Cater Brothers in 1972, after the death of its chairman Leslie Cater. Using the new purchasing power Debenhams modernised its 40 food halls within its stores, branding them Caters Food Halls, however the business declined in the intense marketplace and in 1979 the chain was sold to Allied Suppliers who converted the Cater stores into their Presto format
32.
NewDay (company)
–
NewDay, formerly SAV Credit, is a financial services company specialising in providing credit products to consumers in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 2000, on 13 May 2013 the company completed the purchase of Santander UKs store card business, including branded cards issued for retailers including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, House of Fraser and Debenhams. Santander continued to operate the business until 1 April 2014. NewDay is organised into two limited companies, NewDay Ltd and NewDay Cards Ltd, both are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and subscribe to the Lending Code
33.
Initial public offering
–
Through this process, a privately held company transforms into a public company. Initial public offerings are used by companies to raise the expansion of capital, possibly to monetize the investments of early private investors. A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors, after the IPO, when shares trade freely in the open market, money passes between public investors. The IPO process is known as going public. Details of the offering are disclosed to potential purchasers in the form of a lengthy document known as a prospectus. Most companies undertake an IPO with the assistance of an investment banking firm acting in the capacity of an underwriter, underwriters provide several services, including help with correctly assessing the value of shares and establishing a public market for shares. Alternative methods such as the dutch auction have also been explored, in terms of size and public participation, the two most notable examples of this method is the Google IPO and Snapchats parent company Snap Inc. China has recently emerged as a major IPO market, with several of the largest IPOs taking place in that country, the earliest form of a company which issued public shares was the case of the publicani during the Roman Republic. Like modern joint-stock companies, the publicani were legal bodies independent of their members whose ownership was divided into shares, there is evidence that these shares were sold to public investors and traded in a type of over-the-counter market in the Forum, near the Temple of Castor and Pollux. The shares fluctuated in value, encouraging the activity of speculators, mere evidence remains of the prices for which partes were sold, the nature of initial public offerings, or a description of stock market behavior. Publicanis lost favor with the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, the first modern IPO occurred in March 1602 when the Dutch East India Company offered shares of the company to the public in order to raise capital. All the shares were tradable, and the shareholders received receipts for the purchase, a share certificate documenting payment and ownership such as we know today was not issued but ownership was instead entered in the companys share register. In the United States, the first IPO was the offering of Bank of North America around 1783. An IPO, therefore, allows a company to tap into a pool of potential investors to provide itself with capital for future growth, repayment of debt. A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors. Those investors must endure the unpredictable nature of the market to price. After the IPO, when shares trade freely in the open market, for early private investors who choose to sell shares as part of the IPO process, the IPO represents an opportunity to monetize their investment. This type of offering is not dilutive, since no new shares are being created, once a company is listed, it is able to issue additional common shares in a number of different ways, one of which is the follow-on offering
34.
Current account
–
In economics, a countrys current account is one of the two components of its balance of payments, the other being the capital account. The current account consists of the balance of trade, net income or factor income and net cash transfers. The current account balance is one of two measures of a countrys foreign trade. A current account surplus indicates that the value of a countrys net foreign assets grew over the period in question, both government and private payments are included in the calculation. It is called the current account because goods and services are consumed in the current period. The current account is an important indicator about an economys health and it is defined as the sum of the balance of trade, net income from abroad and net current transfers. A current account surplus increases a nations net foreign assets by the amount of the surplus, a country is said to have a trade surplus if its exports exceed its imports, and a trade deficit if its imports exceed its exports. Positive net sales abroad generally contributes to a current account surplus, in the net factor income or income account, income payments are outflows, and income receipts are inflows. Income are receipts from investments made abroad and money sent by individuals working abroad, known as remittances, if the income account is negative, the country is paying more than it is taking in interest, dividends, etc. From the capital account, economists and central banks determine implied rates of return on the different types of capital, the United States, for example, gleans a substantially larger rate of return from foreign capital than foreigners do from owning United States capital. In the traditional accounting of balance of payments, the current account equals the change in net foreign assets, a current account deficit implies a paralleled reduction of the net foreign assets. Current account = changes in net foreign assets, if an economy is running a current account deficit, it is absorbing more than that it is producing. This can only happen if some other economies are lending their savings to it or the economy is running down its foreign assets such as foreign currency reserve. On the other hand, if an economy is running a current account surplus it is absorbing less than that it is producing, as the economy is open, this saving is being invested abroad and thus foreign assets are being created. Normally, the current account is calculated by adding up the 4 components of current account, goods, services, income, goods Being movable and physical in nature, goods are often traded by countries all over the world. When a transaction of certain goods ownership from a country to a foreign country takes place. The other way around, when a goods owner changes to an inhabitant from a foreigner, is defined to be an import. In calculating current account, exports are marked as credit and imports as debit, services When an intangible service is used by a foreigner in a local land and the local resident receives the money from a foreigner, this is also counted as an export, thus a credit
35.
Mortgage loan
–
The loan is secured on the borrowers property. Mortgage can also be described as a borrower giving consideration in the form of a collateral for a benefit, Mortgage borrowers can be individuals mortgaging their home or they can be businesses mortgaging commercial property. Features of mortgage loans such as the size of the loan, maturity of the loan, interest rate, method of paying off the loan, in many jurisdictions, it is normal for home purchases to be funded by a mortgage loan. Few individuals have enough savings or liquid funds to them to purchase property outright. In countries where the demand for ownership is highest, strong domestic markets for mortgages have developed. According to Anglo-American property law, a mortgage occurs when an owner pledges his or her interest as security or collateral for a loan. As with other types of loans, mortgages have an interest rate and are scheduled to amortize over a set period of time, typically 30 years. All types of property can be, and usually are, secured with a mortgage. Mortgage lending is the mechanism used in many countries to finance private ownership of residential and commercial property. Although the terminology and precise forms will differ from country to country, the components tend to be similar, Property. The exact form of ownership will vary from country to country, Mortgage, the security interest of the lender in the property, which may entail restrictions on the use or disposal of the property. Restrictions may include requirements to purchase insurance and mortgage insurance. Borrower, the person borrowing who either has or is creating an ownership interest in the property, lender, any lender, but usually a bank or other financial institution. Principal, the size of the loan, which may or may not include certain other costs, as any principal is repaid. Interest, a charge for use of the lenders money. Completion, legal completion of the deed, and hence the start of the mortgage. A closed mortgage account is said to be redeemed, many other specific characteristics are common to many markets, but the above are the essential features. Governments usually regulate many aspects of mortgage lending, either directly or indirectly, other aspects that define a specific mortgage market may be regional, historical, or driven by specific characteristics of the legal or financial system
36.
Online banking
–
The credentials for online banking is normally not the same as for telephone or mobile banking. Financial institutions now routinely allocate customers numbers, whether or not customers have indicated an intention to access their online banking facility, customer numbers are normally not the same as account numbers, because a number of customer accounts can be linked to the one customer number. The customer visits the financial institutions website, and enters the online banking facility using the customer number. Most banks also enable a customer to download copies of bank statements, some banks also enable customers to download transactions directly into the customers accounting software. The facility may also enable the customer to order a book, statements, report loss of credit cards, stop payment on a cheque, advise change of address. Today, many banks are internet-only institutions and these virtual banks have lower overhead costs than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. In the United States, many banks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The precursor for the modern home lun banking services were the banking services over electronic media from the early 1980s. The term online became popular in the late 1980s and referred to the use of a terminal, keyboard, home banking can also refer to the use of a numeric keypad to send tones down a phone line with instructions to the bank. Online services started in New York in 1981 when four of the major banks offered home banking services. When the clicks-and-bricks euphoria hit in the late 1990s, many began to view web-based banking as a strategic imperative. Additionally, online banking services allow institutions to bundle more services into single packages, thereby luring customers, a mergers-and-acquisitions wave swept the financial industries in the mid- and late 1990s, greatly expanding banks customer bases. Following this, banks looked to the Web as a way of maintaining their customers, a number of different factors are causing bankers to shift more of their business to the virtual realm. While financial institutions took steps to implement e-banking services in the mid-1990s and it took widespread adoption of electronic commerce, based on trailblazing companies such as America Online, Amazon. com and eBay, to make the idea of paying for items online widespread. By 2000, 80% of U. S. banks offered e-banking, at Bank of America, for example, it took 10 years to acquire 2 million e-banking customers. However, a significant cultural change took place after the Y2K scare ended, in 2001, Bank of America became the first bank to top 3 million online banking customers, more than 20% of its customer base. In comparison, larger institutions, such as Citigroup claimed 2.2 million online relationships globally. Wells Fargo had 2.5 million online banking customers, including small businesses, Online customers proved more loyal and profitable than regular customers
37.
Mobile app
–
A mobile application software or mobile app is an application software designed to run on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Some pre-installed apps can be removed by an ordinary uninstall process, where the software does not allow this, some devices can be rooted to eliminate the undesired apps. Native mobile apps often stand in contrast to desktop applications that run on desktop computers, Apps that are not preinstalled are usually available through distribution platforms called app stores. They began appearing in 2008 and are operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store. Some apps are free, while others must be bought, usually, they are downloaded from the platform to a target device, but sometimes they can be downloaded to laptops or desktop computers. For apps with a price, generally a percentage, 20-30%, goes to the provider. The same app can therefore cost a different price depending on the mobile platform, the term app is a shortening of the term application software. It has become popular, and in 2010 was listed as Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society. In 2009, technology columnist David Pogue said that newer smartphones could be nicknamed app phones to distinguish them from earlier less-sophisticated smartphones, Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar, contacts, stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, in 2014 government regulatory agencies began trying to regulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps. Some companies offer apps as a method to deliver content with certain advantages over an official website. Usage of mobile apps has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users, a May 2012 comScore study reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices,51. 1% vs.49. 8% respectively. Researchers found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with user context and depends on users location, Mobile apps are playing an ever-increasing role within healthcare and when designed and integrated correctly can yield many benefits. Market research firm Gartner predicted that 102 billion apps would be downloaded in 2013, by Q22015, the Google Play and Apple stores alone generated $5 billion. Developing apps for mobile devices requires considering the constraints and features of these devices, Mobile devices run on battery and have less powerful processors than personal computers and also have more features such as location detection and cameras. Developers also have to consider an array of screen sizes, hardware specifications and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software. Mobile application development requires use of specialized integrated development environments, Mobile apps are first tested within the development environment using emulators and later subjected to field testing. Emulators provide a way to test applications on mobile phones to which developers may not have physical access
.jpg)
.jpg)
