Britain to be fastest growing economy in G7 this year April 8, 2014 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upped its forecast for UK growth this year to 2.9 per cent. In January, it predicted GDP would rise 2.5 per cent, but stable inflation and lower unemployment are helping Britain stay on course for its strongest growth since 2007, it says. The figure puts Britain ahead of the [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 8, 2014 US stocks futures suggest a lower open for markets today, following the sharp sell-off seen yesterday and other global equities trading in the red today. The S&P 500 has been in negative territory for three days in a row; today would be the fourth. It’s also the start of earnings season in the US, with [...]
Immigration restrictions are holding the economy back says new report April 8, 2014 The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has become the latest organisation to join the chorus of voices calling on the government to ease visa restrictions for migrant workers. The REC and KPMG jobs report published on Tuesday, said March saw a decline in the availability of candidates, with permanent staff availability falling at the sharpest [...]
This literally cool map of London shows the hipster migration east April 8, 2014 Is doesn’t take a genius to work out that London’s trendies have moved to east London over the past ten years, gathering into a melting pot of fixies, skinny jeans and iPads in Hackney and the surrounding area – but this map, plus handy graph, does illustrate it beautifully. Savills has gathered data from [...]
Investment in central London property hits record high April 8, 2014 Investment in central London commercial property jumped to record levels in the first quarter, driven by big ticket deals in the City & the Docklands and overseas buyers snapping up trophy schemes in the capital. According to Cushman & Wakefield, 32 deals took place across the City and the Docklands in the first three months [...]
Why are London’s educated young failing to find jobs? April 8, 2014 A new report lays out some of the stark truths behind London’s youth unemployment today. Despite a more highly educated young workforce, and the economic dynamism of the city, the number of unemployed young people remains outsized in comparison to other people in the country. London’s youth unemployment is particularly high in comparison to the [...]
The apps bringing you perfect craft beer April 8, 2014 A bevy of apps are entering the market, and they’re designed to help ale aficionados seek out their ideal suds. Craft beer is rapidly growing in popularity. In 2012, 415m pints of independently-brewed beer were consumed in the UK – up from 22.3m. That figure comes from the Society of Independent Brewers who, after 21 [...]
Lloyds struggles to hire IT director April 8, 2014 Lloyds is having trouble finding a non-executive director who can understand its creaking IT systems and bring the bank into the modern world, its former chairman Sir Win Bischoff said today. Currently its computer setup is made of decades-old systems from several banks, forced together over years of mergers and acquisitions. “They have been bolted [...]
Nokia gets the go-ahead for Microsoft sale April 8, 2014 The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has approved Nokia's planned sale of its devices & services business to Microsoft, the company said on Tuesday. The deal reached in September saw Nokia sell the business to Microsoft for €5.4bn (£4.4bn). However, Nokia retained its patent portfolio, which is seen by some analysts as an up-and-coming source of [...]
Banks slow pace of swaps mis-selling compensation April 8, 2014 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put out its latest figures on its interest rate hedging products redress scheme. Last month, a total of £598.4m had been paid of by the UK’s four largest banks to small businesses to which they mis-sold the complex products. In the month, £116.4m was paid out, down from £175m [...]