Labour eyes cut to tuition fees as repayment rate continues to fall March 31, 2014 THE LABOUR party is set to confirm a cut in tuition fees that could reduce what students pay by thousands of pounds. Initial plans could see fees slashed by £3,000 a year to £6,000, with suggestions they could fall as low as £4,000 in the future. Douglas Alexander, shadow foreign secretary, told the BBC’s Andrew [...]
US and Russia work on easing Ukraine crisis March 31, 2014 AMERICA’S surprise meeting with Russian officials in Paris last night yielded some common ground over the annexing of Crimea, though tensions remain high. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who stopped off in France following a Middle Eastern trip, said he had stressed during four hours of talks with the Russians that the country’s actions [...]
Buyers struggle to raise deposit as market soars March 31, 2014 HOUSE buyers across England and Wales are paying the highest proportion of their property’s asking price since 2004, with the average house going for more than 99 per cent of the asking price in London. In March so far, buyers are shelling out 96.2 per cent of property asking prices, according to Hometrack’s assessment of [...]
Prime London prices up by more than two thirds in past five years March 31, 2014 PRIME central London prices have risen by more than two-thirds since their post-Lehman Brothers low, according to new research that looks at how recent political events, as well as economics, have affected prices. According to Knight Frank’s central London index out today, prices have risen 68 per cent since the bottom of the market in [...]
RBS close to hiring Credit Suisse banker as its new finance chief March 31, 2014 STATE-BACKED RBS is thought to be in advanced talks to poach Credit Suisse banker Ewen Stevenson as its new finance chief. The bailed-out bank is expected to make an announcement within days, according to sources cited by Sky News. The appointment, which is subject to approval by the Prudential Regulation Authority, will end a search [...]
Mobile banking transactions doubled in 2013 March 31, 2014 MORE than 2bn banking transactions will be carried out using mobile apps this year, the British Bankers’ Association said today, in a new landmark for the industry. The number of transactions on mobile phones and other devices more than doubled last year to 18.6m per week, and the pace is accelerating. Currently 5.7m transactions are [...]
Davey defends investment in UK energy amid blackout warnings March 31, 2014 ED DAVEY yesterday defended the investment climate for the UK energy sector, amid industry warnings that a competition probe into the market will delay projects and increase the risk of blackouts. “We have huge amounts of companies wanting to invest,” the energy secretary said on the BBC’s Sunday Politics. “If you look at independent analysis, [...]
Tougher penalties for firms that annoy Brits with nuisance calls March 31, 2014 COMPANIES exploiting data to make nuisance phonecalls will face fines worth hundreds of thousands of pounds under new plans from the government. Culture secretary Maria Miller is set to launch a consultation this year on lowering the threshold for when firms can be fined for making nuisance calls and sending spam text messages, according to [...]
Network Rail braced for delay fines March 31, 2014 NETWORK Rail, the public body that runs Britain’s railways, is braced for fines of around £70m for falling short on punctuality targets in recent years. The Office of Rail Regulation has the power to penalise Network Rail if less than 92 per cent of trains arrive within 10 minutes of the schedule, and figures this [...]
Meet Yuan Yafei: coming to a high street near you March 31, 2014 HOUSE OF Fraser is set to be snapped up by a former Chinese government employee who developed his £5bn conglomerate Sanpower from humble origins selling computers in the eastern city of Nanjing. Yuan Yafei, who Forbes estimates has a personal fortune of $485m (£291m), is currently the chairman of Sanpower, a Nanjing-based company that owns [...]