Derwent buys Angel Square November 24, 2014 Derwent London stepped up its presence to the capital’s fast-growing tech sector after buying Angel Square in Islington for £75.03m. The property developer, which is developing the huge White Collar Factory office scheme at Old Street’s “Silicon” roundabout, said yesterday the three buildings complemented its other assets in the area, including the Angel Building opposite. [...]
Eurozone bond yields plunge to record lows November 24, 2014 Spanish and Italian borrowing costs fell to record lows yesterday as markets began to price in the likelihood of the European Central Bank (ECB) buying government bonds. The interest on Spanish, Italian and German 10-year government debt fell to 1.98, 2.17 and 0.77 per cent respectively yesterday. It is the first time Spanish 10-year yields [...]
Business confidence in Germany picks up after year of decline November 24, 2014 Business confidence in Germany has suddenly halted its sharp decline,a set of new data shows. The Ifo business climate index published yesterday by the Centre for Economic studies at Munich University rose to 104.7 in November from 103.2 in October, ending six months of decline. The score is such that 2005’s level is marked as [...]
Amazon debuts Post Office pick-up service in new deal with Royal Mail November 24, 2014 Shoppers will soon be able to collect products ordered on Amazon at their local Post Office branch in a new deal announced today by the online retail giant and the Royal Mail. Amazon said it has signed up Royal Mail’s Local Collect service, giving its customers the option of collecting goods from any one of [...]
Wages set to rise at last as the number of vacancies outstrips volume of jobseekers November 24, 2014 Britain’s recovery has pulled so many unemployed workers into jobs that there are now more vacancies than jobseekers, for the first time since the financial crisis struck, jobs website Adzuna said today. As a result, employers are increasing the wages on offer to new staff, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) expects pay rises [...]
Graduates and school leavers do not have skills employers need November 24, 2014 Employers are increasingly struggling to fill entry-level jobs as graduates and school-leavers are often lacking key skills, according to a Totaljobs.com report out today. One in seven firms has been unable to fill an entry-level vacancy in the past three years. At the same time, 15 per cent of recent graduates remain unemployed, and 20 [...]
Argos rolls out eReceipts in bid to become a top digital retailer November 24, 2014 Argos has announced the introduction of eReceipts across its 750 UK and Ireland stores. The scheme gives Argos’ customers the option to have a receipt emailed to them to keep a record of purchases and warranties and has already been trialled this year. The technology has been developed by eReceipts, which is chaired by the [...]
Sausage maker Cranswick heats up its dividend November 24, 2014 Sausage maker Cranswick yesterday announced it would be raising its interim dividend, prompting shares to climb more than five per cent. The Yorkshire-based food producer boosted its interim dividend by six per cent to 10.6p per share, from the 10p previously announced despite a slip in pre-tax profit and revenues in its interim results. Cranswick [...]
New Look ties up sale of French business MIM to Hong Kong firm Main Asia November 24, 2014 New Look said yesterday it had completed the sale of its French business Mim to Chinese firm Main Asia without disclosing the terms of the deal. Main Asia is a Hong Kong-based company established earlier this year to acquire Mim. Very little is known about the company except that the main shareholders and management are [...]
Home Retail Group sells Homebase in Battersea for £52m to homes developer Fifth Capital London November 24, 2014 The housing market in London’s Nine Elms area is booming. But Home Retail Group has decided to sell its DIY store Homebase in Battersea after receiving a £57m offer for the sought-after site. The retailer said yesterday it had exchanged contracts to sell the huge site on York Road to Fifth Capital London, a little-known [...]