Why we should cheer on chancellor Philip Hammond -aka Spreadsheet Phil – during today’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Cast your minds back to November 2015, when George Osborne was still chancellor of the exchequer and Brexit was merely a twinkle in Boris Johnson’s artful eyes. Osborne was under pressure to scrap his proposed cuts to tax credits following an intense political storm. Fortunately for David Cameron’s right hand man, the government’s fiscal watchdog presented [...]
Employers see skills shortages ahead as demand for talent rises according to the REC’s jobs report March 8, 2017 Demand for staff in Britain has reached its highest point in 18 months as concerns over skills shortage rise for employers, a new survey of recruiters shows. Job vacancies rose to their highest point since mid-2015, according to an index collected by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), continuing a strong recovery since dipping after [...]
Ford’s Essex-based financing unit gears up for possible shift to Germany to swerve Brexit fallout March 7, 2017 Ford is mapping a possible move to Germany for part of its sizeable financing division, as the car manufacturer plots a route to avoid Brexit fallout. According to Sky News, which first reported the story, staff at Essex-based Ford Credit Europe (FCE) have been told the company has commissioned a study into whether it would be [...]
Chinese phone maker ZTE fined $1.2bn for breaching sanctions for shipping US-built equipment to Iran March 7, 2017 ZTE has been slapped with penalties totalling $1.2bn (£1bn) by the US authorities for sanctions breaches. The Chinese phone maker pleaded guilty to shipping products containing US-produced equipment to Iran, which is a violation of US export rules, for almost six years. The US authorities had been probing export practices at the company for five years. [...]
Christopher Steele, the man behind the Trump dossier, heads back to work, and breaks his silence to thank people for their support March 7, 2017 The ex-MI6 agent behind the controversial dossier claiming to prove a link between President Donald Trump and the Russian government has returned to work today, stopping to have a quick word with reporters on his way through the door. Christopher Steele, now director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence, compiled the dossier which was published by Buzzfeed in January. [...]
Work and Pensions Committee to pick over Vauxhall pension scheme and its £840m deficit, as well as retirement funds at BHS and Bernard Matthews March 7, 2017 A group of MPs revealed today they are having a closer look at Vauxhall's pension pot, the day after it was announced the European unit of the motoring brand's owner was being purchased by French car firm PSA. The Work and Pensions Committee also said it is scrutinising the status of Bernard Matthews' retirement funds and the recent £363m settlement [...]
The House of Lords just handed Theresa May her second parliamentary defeat on Brexit March 7, 2017 The House of Lords has inflicted a second Brexit defeat on Prime Minister Theresa May, amending her Article 50 Bill in a bid to force the government to offer a “meaningful” vote on quitting the EU. After three hours of occasionally fractious debate, peers voted 366 to 268 in favour of the change. A handful of Conservative peers [...]
Paddy Power Betfair is trading neck and neck with analysts’ expectations March 7, 2017 Bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair saw its share price fall despite trading in line with expectations last year, underscoring perceptions that investors expect it to perform more strongly for the stock price. It highlighted an increase in underlying earnings of over a third to £400m as well as a significant dividend payment. The figures Revenues are up [...]
Aggreko share price hit as it warns on profits March 7, 2017 Power supplier Aggreko warned on profits alongside its 2016 results this morning, causing its share price to dive 13 per cent. It said that 2017 results will be hit by a “significant impact” of weaker pricing on contracts in Argentina. The figures The company reported a reduction of 24 per cent in 2016 pre-tax profits to £172m after [...]
“Inherent conflict of interest” existed in overseeing of Libor, court told in case against two ex-Barclays traders March 7, 2017 A witness from the so-called "voice of banking" told a court today there was an "inherent conflict of interest" in Libor's governance, as trial of two ex-Barclays traders rumbles on. The Serious Fraud Office has claimed Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, and Ryan Reich, 35, played roles in a conspiracy to fix the benchmark rate between 1 June [...]