Today’s the day: Small Business Saturday is back for a fourth time December 3, 2016 Small businesses in London: brace yourselves for a very busy day. For Small Business Saturday has arrived and the nation is being encouraged to shop local and support their small firms. The UK is home to 5.5m small businesses and they're responsible for 60 per cent of private sector employment and contribute £1.8 trillion in turnover [...]
President-elect Donald Trump is on the defensive over call with Taiwan December 3, 2016 Donald Trump has started as he means to go on. The President-elect did what he always does after raising eyebrows (this time over a phone call with Taiwan): he took to Twitter to defend himself. The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you! — Donald J. Trump [...]
This map of European breweries shows the UK is the drunk hipster of Europe December 2, 2016 Forget the poor man of Europe – the UK is the drunk hipster of Europe, it turns out, after figures showed Britain has more microbreweries than any other country. Yes, figures from The Brewers of Europe showed while Germany brews more beer than any other nation, at 95.6m hectolitres, the UK has more than 1,500 microbreweries. [...]
Yule regret it: Christmas party hangovers to cost UK economy £541m this year, study estimates December 2, 2016 Post-Christmas party hangovers could cost the UK economy £541m, a new study out today claims. A survey of 2,000 British workers by Travelodge found that 57 per cent plan to attend two or more work Christmas parties this year. And more than half will waste half a day after the do, costing the economy £541m [...]
Network Rail pays £316m in penalties for planned engineering works over the last year December 2, 2016 Network Rail has revealed which rail companies benefit the most from penalty payments for planned engineering works. And London's commuters may be shocked to hear the name that isn't at the top… No, neither Southern nor parent company Govia top the pile of operators which receive handouts from the publicly funded body in charge of Britain's rail infrastructure. [...]
Don’t blame it on the politicians, blame it on social media: Brits think Twitter and Facebook led to Trump victory December 2, 2016 We've heard about the evils of social media and all the supposed wasted hours we spend online, but this might be a bit much. Apparently, nearly half of Brits think that Donald Trump would not be President-elect right now had the US election taken place before the existence of social media. A YouGov poll of 1,658 [...]
US non-farm payroll: US adds 178,000 jobs in November as wages rise and unemployment falls December 2, 2016 US non-farm payroll data has shown that the US added 178,000 jobs in the month that saw Donald Trump win the Presidential election. Market experts had been expecting an increase of 165,000 in November, slightly above the 161,000 reported for October. Unemployment dropped to 4.6 per cent and wages were up 2.5 per cent. The jobs [...]
NFU Mutual announces tie-up with BAE Systems to protect customers December 2, 2016 It's probably not one of the most obvious business combinations but one of Britain's largest insurers has drafted in BAE Systems to help protect itself from financial crime. NFU Mutual will team up with the defence giant to "provide the insurance firm and its customers with comprehensive protection across underwriting, claims and financial crime services." Read [...]
Oil prices dip but still on track for recovery after Opec deal December 2, 2016 Oil prices fell slightly on Friday morning, but are still set for a strong week. Investors piled into oil futures and related stocks earlier this week when Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) revealed a deal to cut production by 1.2m barrels a day. Read more: $50 oil saves FTSE 100 from further falls This [...]
Uber is expanding its UberPool area just in time for Christmas December 2, 2016 Uber is more than doubling the area in London where its car-sharing option UberPool is available. From 4pm today, the service will cover all of zone three, including areas such as Streatham, Dulwich, Lewisham, Muswell Hill, Wimbledon and City Airport. The expansion comes one year after UberPool was launched in the capital. Uber's ride-sharing service allows users [...]