Kier Group drives ahead with £140m Highways England maintenance contract win December 20, 2016 FTSE 250-listed construction and engineering firm Kier Group has won a £140m contract to repair and maintain services on a section of the Highways England network. The 15-year contract will commence on 1 April next year and covers a section of road called Area 13, which is located in Cumbria and North Lancashire. Kier will provide [...]
Flybe appoints former CityJet boss Christine Ourmieres-Widener as new chief executive December 20, 2016 Christine Ourmieres-Widener will take the reins at Flybe next year. She has been appointed chief executive, to take over from Saad Hammad, who stood down in October. Ourmieres-Widener will take up the role from 16 January. Her background is in aviation and the travel industry, with stints at Air France and Amadeus France, before she became chief executive of Irish [...]
Italy wants €20bn for bank bailouts as Monte dei Paschi struggles December 20, 2016 The Italian government is seeking parliamentary approval to borrow €20bn (£16.8bn) in order to prop up the country's struggling banks. The first institution in line for a bailout is likely to be the beleaguered Monte dei Paschi, which must get rid of a book of bad loans and raise €5bn in capital by the end [...]
Lloyds Banking Group snaps up Bank of America’s MBNA credit card firm for £1.9bn in first acquisition since financial crisis December 20, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group has beaten off other bidders to snap up Bank of America's UK credit card company MBNA for £1.9bn, in its first acquisition since it was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008. The UK lender emerged as the frontrunner to take over MBNA, which holds assets of £7bn, in late November. The takeover is a [...]
Chief exec eyes Speedy recovery after “tumultuous” 2016 and high-profile activist investor attack December 20, 2016 It has been a tumultuous year for Speedy Hire. And chief executive Russell Down would be one of the first people to say so. The tool and equipment rental business was on the end of arguably the most high-profile activist investor attack of 2016. Toscafund, whose chief executive Martin Hughes has earned the City nickname Rottweiler, issued [...]
Berlin: 12 people have died and 48 are injured after a truck “deliberately” drove into a Christmas market December 20, 2016 Berlin police said 12 people have died and 48 injured after a truck ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the heart of west Berlin last night. Investigators assume the driver that ploughed into the market did so deliberately and said the incident was a "probable terrorist attack". "Our investigators assume that the truck [...]
Cross party MPs want to amend key bill and have tax clampdown extended to overseas territories December 20, 2016 A cross-party group of MPs will today up the ante on the UK's overseas territories, hoping to force them to adopt the same transparency laws as the rest of Britain. 80 MPs from across seven parties will support adjustments to the Criminal Finances Bill stipulating the UK's overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman [...]
This is where house prices have increased the most this year December 20, 2016 The average British home has increased in value by £19,348 during 2016 – £56.57 per day – bringing the British property market's value to £8.17tn. The data from Zoopla shows that the UK market's value has gone up by 7.35 per cent as a whole this year. Read more: This is how far house prices will [...]
Regulation, regulation, regulation: What to expect in 2017 December 20, 2016 You don't need us to tell you it’s been a year for surprises. Referenda in the UK and Italy, coupled with the result of the US election, have created huge uncertainty and widespread anxiety among businesses. While we ponder what Brexit really means, one thing everyone wants on their New Year’s wish list is more [...]
2016: A post-mortem of the year the UK’s “economic experts” failed December 20, 2016 The end of a calendar year and the start of a new one provides a chance for reflection. For the UK’s economic establishment, particularly forecasters, introspection is more appropriate. Complete with their New Keynesian models, most have been proven utterly wrong so far that voting for Brexit would lead to a short-term downturn. As the most [...]