Putin isn’t dangerous because Russia is strong – but because it’s so weak January 30, 2017 “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.” – L Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz As a child, I remember being fascinated by the populist allegory The Wizard of Oz. My favourite part of the story – sure to cause me to burst out laughing even when I knew what was coming [...]
The City should welcome apprenticeships to build a higher-skilled economy for all January 30, 2017 The City of London Corporation recently announced its pledge to hire 100 new apprentices. This figure, combined with 17 current positions, will give 117 career-starters a role in the organisation. This echoes Sadiq Khan’s recent calls for more powers to build skills among London’s workforce – and to help keep the capital globally competitive in [...]
Embrace simple taxes and openness to trade to make a long-term success of Brexit January 30, 2017 At her Lancaster House speech this month, Theresa May was good to her word. She set out her 12-point negotiating position for leaving the EU and it was explicit that Brexit does, in fact, mean Brexit. The lady is clearly not for turning. And if the Lancaster House speech was about withdrawing from the current [...]
With reports Barclays has chosen Dublin for its EU HQ, will Ireland be the beneficiary of any City Brexodus? January 30, 2017 Daniel Mahoney, head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies, says Yes. Although Theresa May has provided a degree of clarity on the Brexit negotiations, remaining uncertainties mean that financial service firms will, inevitably, seek to implement some restructuring and contingency planning. Ireland is well placed to take advantage of this. Ireland shares [...]
Retail M&A slowdown as private equity backs away from high street January 30, 2017 The value of UK retail mergers sunk to a three-year low in 2016, with just 36 mergers agreed – down from 47 in 2015 according to law firm RPC. The new figures released today suggest that total deal values have also slumped from £20.7bn down to just £4.7bn, a decline which outpaced a post-Brexit slowdown [...]
Weetabix to invest £30m keeping up with appetite for healthy breakfast January 30, 2017 The UK’s top-selling cereal brand has announced plans to increase production capacity at sites in Burton Latimer and Corby by 2018. The investment will allow Weetabix to boost manufacturing volumes in response to a rise in the brand’s UK cereal and drinks market share from 15.3 to 16.4 per cent in 2016. Rising sales of [...]
How 1.5 per cent of UK businesses created 780,000 jobs last year January 30, 2017 Medium-sized British businesses created 780,000 jobs in 2016 and increased profits by 19 per cent, according to new figures released by accountants BDO in a report into the sector’s growth prospects. The increase was a striking improvement on annual profit growth between 2011 and 2015, which averaged less than one per cent a year while [...]
British tech sector slams President Donald Trump’s migration block, echoing US counterparts January 30, 2017 British tech bosses have echoed their American counterparts by criticising President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel to the US for people hailing from several majority Muslim nations. Just days after Prime Minister Theresa May met the President in a bid to reinvigorate the “special relationship”, she was forced to distance herself from his controversial order on [...]
Treasury Select Committee chair hits back at chancellor over rules which could have blocked HBOS review January 30, 2017 The chair of the influential Treasury Select Committee has written to the chancellor, slamming powers which could have been used to block reviews into recent high-profile scandals like HBOS. In a letter dated last Tuesday, but not published until today, Andrew Tyrie warned Philip Hammond that powers granted to the Treasury to push the stop button on [...]
Former watchdog Tracey McDermott will join Standard Chartered to build relationships with regulators January 29, 2017 Tracey McDermott will join Standard Chartered as group head of corporate, public and regulatory affairs effective 20 March to build the bank's relationships with regulators and policy makers. The former acting chief executive of the UK's financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will report to group chief executive Bill Winters and will join Standard Chartered's global [...]