Leading pensions expert Neil MacGillivray, head of technical support at adviser platform and SIPP provider Nucleus, is to retire before the end of the year.

The £242m merger of platform Nucleus and SIPP and SSAS provider Curtis Banks has received regulatory approval after the conclusion of a review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

As the Bank Holiday nears (at least officially in England, Wales and Northern Ireland), I was intrigued by a story we ran this week revealing that financial services and insurance workers are taking 5% fewer days holiday than they are entitled to.

These are grim times for platforms, hit by runaway ’trains’ coming from all sides.