Industrial titans, BAE, Babcock and Rolls-Royce, come to aid of Sheffield Forgemasters, Britain’s oldest steel-maker March 8, 2017 Industrials heavyweights, BAE Systems, Babcock International and Rolls-Royce Holdings, have helped Britain's oldest steel-maker secure a multimillion pound funding package. Sky News reported the trio have agreed to continue to underwrite loans for the Sheffield Forgemasters, which plays a role in the supply chain for the Trident programme, for at least another year. The original guarantee for [...]
US cereal maker Post Holdings wants to have its Weetabix and readies £1.5bn bid, as the race to buy the breakfast brand narrows to just two bidders March 8, 2017 An American firm is lining up a £1.5bn bid for Weetabix, as it prepares to go head-to-head with another company interested in snapping up the breakfast cereal brand. According to Sky News, which first reported the story, Post Holdings, which makes Golden Crisp and Cocoa Pebbles, is one of just two bidders left competing to [...]
RBS’ chief exec Ross McEwan just got awarded shares worth £1.2m in the loss-making bank March 8, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive was awarded £1.2m worth of shares this afternoon, as benefits from the loss-making lender's long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) were paid out. Ross McEwan, who took over at the helm of the taxpayer-backed bank in October 2013, was vested a total of 512,509 shares under the incentive scheme at £2.389 a pop, [...]
Councils will be offered £2bn to help fight off a crisis in the UK’s social care provision March 8, 2017 Local authorities will be offered up to £2bn over the next three years to help meet the cost of social care. The funding was announced by chancellor Philip Hammond earlier today with £1bn of cash set to arrive in 2017-18. Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter welcomed the announcement, saying the funding represented “a significant [...]
Spring Budget 2017 figures predict banks will cough up an extra £2.1bn in bank levy and surcharge payments compared with Autumn Statement 2016 forecasts March 8, 2017 The government expects to pocket an extra £2.1bn from banks' coffers compared with what it forecast four months ago. Figures tucked away at the back of the spring Budget statement reveal the Treasury now expects to bring in £27bn from the bank levy and surcharge combined between financial years 2015-16 and 2021-22. The same analysis in last [...]
The International Energy Agency says it is inevitable that oil prices will see a massive increase March 8, 2017 Three years of drastic cuts to upstream spending because of the meltdown in oil prices could result in a shortage of oil supply in a few years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. When oil prices collapsed in 2014, oil producers quickly took an axe to their spending. Global oil and [...]
The chancellor needs more than a rainy day fund to help Britain weather Brexit March 8, 2017 In his final Spring Budget, the chancellor was already weaning his audience from this once important spring affair, with little of significant economic policy substance announced. He was handed a gift by the Office for Budget Responsibility in the form of an upgraded outlook for 2017, in anticipation of more resilient consumer spending, although expectations for [...]
Self-employed workers could be offered new options for parental leave March 8, 2017 Self-employed workers could be offered new options for parental leave under plans due to face consultation later this year. The government will this summer explore whether plans for the self-employed to pay higher National Insurance contributions should allow for state-funded paternal and maternal leave for new parents. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the consultation today, citing in [...]
The Department for Education is going to pilot new lifelong learning schemes March 8, 2017 Ministers will spend £40m on plans to “test the effectiveness of different approaches to lifelong learning”. The effort comes as part of a focus on later life training, and chancellor Philip Hammond said the plan would “help the next generation learn and train throughout their lives.” Confederation of British Industry director general Carolyn Fairbarn said: [...]
The Treasury is plotting an £820m tax avoidance crackdown March 8, 2017 The Treasury is hoping to raise more than £800m from new anti- tax avoidance measures, including penalties for financial advisers. New penalties will come into force from July for tax experts like advisers, if they are found to have enabled the use of avoidance schemes later defeated by HM Revenue and Customs in the courts. The [...]