THE DAILY BRIEFING

■ MOVING ON

Bosses face a backlash from the Investment

Association over lavish relocation packages. The trade body has written to hundreds of company boards saying that the payouts should be disclosed immediately and paid only for a limited period.

■ STARTING OVER

Troubled biotech firm Redx Pharma has resumed trading having come out of administration. It is now expected to streamline projects, with trials of cancer treatments due to start early next year.

■ ANOTHER ROUND

The City Pub Company, which owns and operates 34 premium pubs, is planning to join aIM to raise £30m to help buy new venues.

It plans to double its estate size in the next three to four years.

■ SELL UP

Mergers and acquisitions by UK firms are expected to increase in 2018, according to research by accountants EY.

The firm said 60pc of companies are planning to acquire assets, up nine percentage points since april and four percentage points ahead of the global figure.

■ CLOSE LOOK

The Bank of England has put its audit contract up for grabs. KPMG has checked its accounts for about ten years but faces competition under the retendering process, which is required every five years.

■ SALES SLIDE

Department chain store Fenwick revealed sales of £425.4m for the year to January 27, down 1.2pc on the previous year.

■ GOING WELL

Business owners’ confidence in their firms’ prospects has improved over the past three months, according to a survey by accountants ICAEW.