No graduate tax, says Vince Cable October 10, 2010 VINCE CABLE has performed a remarkable volte-face over plans to replace university tuition fees with a graduate tax. The business secretary – a long-time proponent of such a scheme – has written to Liberal Democrat members insisting “an additional tax on graduates” is not the way forward. Cable said the tax would unfairly see some high [...]
Alan Johnson will be a tough political rival October 10, 2010 THE knives are already out for Alan Johnson, Labour’s new shadow chancellor, who was welcomed by his opposite number with a thinly-veiled jibe. “I haven’t come across him directly because he’s never held any economic portfolio before,” George Osborne said on learning of his appointment. Tory MPs, along with a few Labour ones, are queuing [...]
Britain has more workless homes than rest of EU October 10, 2010 BRITAIN has the highest rate of workless households out of the major EU economies, according to a new report. The Centre for Policy Studies says that 11.5 per cent of UK households are workless, compared to 10.8 in France, which is the second worst. Dr Peter Warburton, author of the report, said that the boom decade between [...]
Burberry is set for strong sales growth October 10, 2010 LUXURY goods business Burberry is expected to report double-digit sales growth in its first-half trading update on Wednesday. The performance follows a strong first-quarter trading update and comes after a flurry of takeover speculation has boosted Burberry’s share price 17 per cent in the past month. The consensus forecast for the six months to September [...]
Eat takes its third bite at the market as it is put up for sale October 10, 2010 SANDWICH shop chain Eat has been put on the market for the third time by its owners. The company, which has 100 stores and is planning to double that in the next two to four years, is expected to fetch more than £100m as interest from private equity groups mounts. The firm is being advised [...]
Cool Britannia lives on October 10, 2010 COOL Britannia is alive and kicking, or at least it is in the luxury goods market. The Chinese and Indians might be stealing a march on the UK when it comes to manufacturing, services, and just about everything else, but they want to do it while wearing high-end British brands. That’s good news for Burberry, [...]
ECB toughens its stance on lending rules October 10, 2010 THE European Central Bank (ECB) has made changes to its legal framework which underscore its power to limit individual banks’ borrowing at lending operations, amid ongoing discussion about how to tackle the dependency of some institutions on its funding. The changes, published over the weekend, clarify its ability to bar or restrict banks from borrowing [...]
Orange JV launches £4m ad campaign October 10, 2010 EVERYTHING Everywhere, the company formed by the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, will today launch a £4m advertising campaign. The firm will announce to its 27m customers they will now be able to access the network of both brands, which it says will allow them to use mobile services over a greater geographical area. The [...]
BP in talks with Chinese over Argentinian assets October 10, 2010 CHINA’S national oil company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is in talks with BP to buyout its £6.3bn stake in Argentina’s Pan American Energy. The two have been in talks since the summer over BP’s 60 per cent stake in the Argentinian company, with CNOOC emerging as the most interested buyer. CNOOC already owns [...]
Kurt Geiger’s earnings show luxury still sells October 10, 2010 LUXURY shoemakers Kurt Geiger posted record annual profits suggesting the market for designer footwear is undimmed despite the global economic downturn. The company said turnover increased 17 per cent to £162m for the year to 30 January with earnings up 21.2 per cent to £14.7m from £12.1m last year. Like for like sales also increased [...]