Mark Carney’s first year: Bank governor enjoys roaring recovery – but he can’t take credit July 1, 2014 Mark Carney has had a spectacularly good first 365 days at Threadneedle Street. Since he's arrived at the Bank of England the UK economy has busted analyst growth expectations. Unemployment has fallen faster than almost anyone had predicted, and inflation is now back below the Bank's two per cent target. Judged by cold hard results, [...]
Energy biggest winner from government’s £400m innovation investment July 1, 2014 The energy sector has bagged the largest amount of investment from the government's innovation fund designed to boost Britain's business and economic growth. The Technology strategy board, the government body tasked with supporting innovation, has outlined plans to fund 12 key sectors, earmarking at least £421m to spend on programmes in 2014 and 2015. [...]
Twitter recruits former Goldman Sachs banker Anthony Noto as finance chief July 1, 2014 Anthony Noto, the former Goldman Sachs banker who worked on Twitter’s IPO, has been recruited as the social network’s chief financial officer. The 46 year-old replaces Mike Gupta, who becomes senior vice president of strategic investments in a reshuffle designed to allay fears caused by a slowdown in user growth. Both execs announced their moves [...]
EU travellers get cheaper mobile phone bills for roaming abroad July 1, 2014 The cost of using a mobile device to go online abroad in the EU has been halved today, a timely boost for those visiting European destinations this summer. In changes to regulations that came into effect on 1 July, the maximum price for data roaming, downloading data while in another European Union country, has been slashed [...]
Bitcoin media coverage distracting from its true potential says Deloitte July 1, 2014 Overzealous media coverage of the controversial aspects of Bitcoin, such as criminal activity, price volatility and exchange collapses could be distracting governments and private businesses from the long-term potential of the cryptocurrency, according to a new report from Deloitte University Press. The report highlights the evolutionary nature of Bitcoin and its potential to be much [...]
Asset finance drives SME lending to pre-crash levels July 1, 2014 Leasing and asset finance are among the biggest drives of growth in the sector as small firms seek alternatives to traditional bank loans, figures from the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) show. A combination of caution from banks, new capital rules making it expensive to lend to SMEs, and firms’ own reluctance [...]
Tata steelworks cuts 400 jobs due to “uncompetitive” energy costs July 1, 2014 The Tata steelworks in Port Talbot is set to shed 400 jobs, with chief executive Karl Koehler saying the moves were necessary for the company to remain competitive. High business rates and rising energy costs were cited as reasons for the job losses. "Steel demand and prices are likely to be under pressure for some [...]
Why is the Eurozone recovery starting to lose momentum? July 1, 2014 Manufacturing in the Eurozone area eased in June amid signs that the recovery is losing ground. The latest figures from Markit see June's headline purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the Eurozone dip to a seven-month low of 51.8 from 52.2 in May. Growth of both output and new orders slowed in the last month. Any [...]
Russian markets take a hit as Ukraine ends truce July 1, 2014 Russian markets are taking a beating in the wake of Ukraine's decision to end the ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels. The Russian ruble has fallen sharply against the US dollar, with a 0.7 per cent slide. Meanwhile, Moscow's MICEX index dropped by 0.9 per cent after the announcement. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the renewed hostilities [...]
Google Glass hit with ban from UK cinemas July 1, 2014 Piracy concerns have caused cinemas to ban the use of Google Glass in film screenings just eight days after the device was made available to tech fans in the UK. The body representing UK cinema operators told the Independent that customers wearing Google Glass will be asked to remove it when entering cinemas. The chief [...]