Asda and Tesco kick off latest fuel price war March 10, 2014 SUPERMARKET chain Tesco kicked off another fuel price war yesterday, swiftly followed by Asda, following a decline in the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel despite escalating political unrest in Ukraine. Tesco cut the price of its petrol and diesel by one pence per litre (ppl) from yesterday afternoon. Asda is lowering its diesel by [...]
Investment into Europe property hits record high March 10, 2014 INVESTORS from outside of Europe spent a record €36bn (£30bn) on European real estate last year, with US, Asian and Middle Eastern investors leading the charge. According to research released today by DTZ at Mipim, the property’s industry annual conference in Cannes, this represented a 26 per cent share of total volumes invested across the [...]
ONS warns zero hours contracts figures mislead March 10, 2014 STATISTICS showing a dramatic increase in zero-hours contracts in the UK were claimed to be misleading by the government office that published them. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday urged caution on reading its report that 583,000 UK workers were on zero-hour contracts – more than double the original 250,000 estimate from last year [...]
Banks back plan to use mobile numbers to simplify payments March 10, 2014 BANK payments will no longer require sort codes and account numbers as part of a new scheme that uses mobile phone numbers to route payments. The Payments Council yesterday detailed the scheme, called Paym, that launches in May with nine banks onboard including Barclays, Halifax and Santander. By the end of 2014 seven additional banks [...]
UK finance lifted by growth in last quarter of 2013 March 10, 2014 THE COMPETITIVENESS of the UK’s financial sector is improving with the general economic upswing, according to research seen exclusively by City A.M. TheCityUK’s latest assessment of the sector’s health brings together 23 different factors that affect finance and indicate whether the industry is improving or declining. A majority of the basket of indicators are improving again, for [...]
Bank’s deputy governor says low rates will be a new norm March 10, 2014 BANK of England deputy governor Charlie Bean said yesterday that interest rates will likely not return to pre-crisis levels even after they begin to rise. Speaking at a dinner for the North East Chamber of Commerce, Bean said that bank rates may only return to relatively low levels. “When the Bank rate does rise, it [...]
Brown: Keep Scotland in by ceding power March 10, 2014 FORMER Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for greater devolution for Scotland, in a bid to prevent the break-up of the United Kingdom later this year. The MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath said in a speech yesterday that the Scottish parliament should be given more power over employment, health, transport and the economy; with [...]
High street hit by bad weather as shoppers turn to the web March 10, 2014 RETAILERS recorded a small rise in total sales in the year to February, up 0.7 per cent from the same month in 2013, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. The data, released today, suggest that while total sales were up marginally, like-for-like transactions fell by one per cent in comparison to February [...]
Another seven-year wait for real wages to hit 2008 level March 10, 2014 AVERAGE real wages will not return to their pre-crisis peak for another seven years, despite the recent economic upturn, according to a new forecast today. PwC says the effect of stagnant wage growth and above target inflation means real earnings will sit below 2008 levels until 2020, 12 years after the crisis. The group added [...]
Finance bosses bullish on sales March 10, 2014 NEARLY 70 per cent of financial directors (FD) are anticipating higher sales this year, as firms look to strengthen cash on their balance sheets, a poll finds. The study, by Capita and Financial Director magazine, found just eight per cent of FDs thought sales would fall. The buoyant mood is matched by an appetite to [...]