The number of days lost to industrial action soared by 89 per cent to 322,000 last year February 15, 2017 There were 322,000 working days lost to strike action in 2016, an increase of 89 per cent on the year before. According to official figures for the year ending December 2016 there were 322,000 days lost from 99 stoppages and 154,000 people took strike action. That compares to 170,000 days lost due to labour disputes in [...]
Anglo American Platinum is back in profit, but it still isn’t paying dividends February 15, 2017 Anglo American today said its platinum business is back in profit. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's top producer of the precious metal, delivered headline earnings of $126m (£101m) compared with a loss of $10m in 2015. However, for the year ended 31 December, the mining giant will report underlying earnings in respect of Amplats of $65m compared with $168m in [...]
Next in at 100 Bishopsgate: Freshfields to leave Fleet Street and cosy up with City firms February 15, 2017 Magic circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is upping sticks and leaving its Fleet Street London headquarters to be closer to some of its top City clients. Freshfields has agreed terms with Brookfield Property Partners to move into 100 Bishopsgate from the summer of 2021. The move ends a long association with its iconic headquarters in Whitefriars, [...]
Protecting data must be board-level priority February 15, 2017 The Queen has officially opened the National Cyber Security Centre, a government nerve centre that aims to protect the economy, state institutions and critical infrastructure from the growing threat of cyber attacks. Private businesses are also vulnerable. With so much of the City’s business conducted through digital networks, the threat from malicious actors is real. [...]
Train services into Kings Cross and Moorgate disrupted by object caught on overhead wires February 15, 2017 Trains between Stevenage and London Kings Cross and Moorgate are subject to delays this morning, because of an object caught on overhead wires at Brookmans Park. National Rail said trains may be revised or delayed by up to 20 minutes, with disruption set to continue until 11AM. NEW: Disruption between Stevenage and London Kings Cross / [...]
Lazy people rejoice: Jaguar and Shell team up for in-car cashless petrol payment February 15, 2017 Here's a treat for those often in a hurry. Jaguar and Shell have teamed up to launch the first in-car payment system for petrol. So you'll actually be able to pay for your fuel through an app on the car's touchscreen at Shell service stations. You drive up, use the car's touchscreen to select how much [...]
An epidemic of fraud costs the UK economy as much as £125bn every year February 15, 2017 An epidemic of fraud since the global financial crisis has cost the UK economy £125bn every year, according to new research. Business losses from fraud and error have increased by 43 per cent since 2008, according to the research by Crowe Clark Whitehill and the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Counter Fraud Studies. The research [...]
Real wage growth lowest since 2014 as inflation starts to bite February 15, 2017 Wage growth for British workers has slowed as inflation pushed down real earnings to their slowest increase since December 2014. Average weekly earnings grew by 2.6 per cent in the year to December before inflation is taken into account, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, when the increasing cost of living is added [...]
Heineken forecasts margin growth ahead of its Punch Taverns takeover February 15, 2017 Heineken, the Dutch brewing giant who is buying British pub chain Punch Taverns, today said it's expanded its margins despite challenging economic conditions. The figures Net profit fell 18.6 per cent to €1.54bn (£1.31bn), while operating profit increased by 9.9 per cent to €3.54bn excluding currency movement and one-offs. Sales in Heineken's premium segment increased 3.7 per cent, and [...]
EU negotiator Guy Verhofstadt says Sir Winston Churchill would have voted Remain February 15, 2017 The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt yesterday accused the Brexit movement of destroying Sir Winston Churchill's legacy. Verhofstadt told MEPs in Strasbourg that Churchill would have voted to Remain in last June's referendum. "In May 1947, in the Albert Hall in London Churchill, the British Bulldog, made it very clear what he wanted. And [...]