Commuting to London: Three in five passengers will have to stand on Thameslink’s new Siemens Class 700 trains October 20, 2014 If you commute into London each morning, make sure you have a comfy pair of shoes with you – you'll be spending most of your time standing up once the government's new German-built Siemens commuter trains are introduced. The “Class 700” trains will start running from 2016 along the Thameslink and Great Northern routes, [...]
Warren Buffett’s second “huge mistake”? IBM shares slide 7.5 per cent in pre-market trading as it admits fall in profits October 20, 2014 It has only been a few days since Warren Buffett admitted buying nearly four per cent of Tesco was a "huge mistake", but now another one of the legendary investor's big gambles is looking shaky. IBM said sales fell four per cent to $22.4bn (£13.9bn) in the three months to the end of September – [...]
UK skills shortage: Bad hires cost businesses £14,000 each October 20, 2014 The skills shortage is an oft-cited obstacle for small firms, but now new research has found each bad hire costs businesses £13,799. Ouch. The research, by Sandler training, found a shortage of good applications means over half of small businesses admit to having made bad hires. More than a quarter of small businesses blamed their [...]
Coming to America: Primark signs deal for a further seven stores in the US October 20, 2014 Primark is to open a further seven stores in the US, including its first in New York, through a lease deal with Sears Holdings revealed today. The value retailer is taking on around 520,000 gross square feet of retail space in mall-based stores in the north east of the US. Primark will take on [...]
Ukip Calypso: Nigel Farage inspires his own political protest song October 20, 2014 Think political protest songs and you're sure to conjure up an image of Bob Dylan blowin' in the wind or maybe John and Yoko imagining a world without war – but what about Nigel Farage arriving at Number 10? The Ukip leader today tweeted a link to a song called the Ukip Calypso, urging [...]
In pictures: Firefighters investigate fire at Didcot B power station October 20, 2014 Firefighters say they're investigating a massive blaze at the gas-fired Didcot B power station in Oxfordshire, which broke out last night. The fire started in one of the station's cooling towers at about 8pm, with 25 fire engines and 100 firefighters tackling it at its height. One of the station's two "modules", which between them [...]
Bank of England’s RTGS payment system suspended due to “technical issue” October 20, 2014 The Bank of England's (BoE) Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system has fallen foul of a technical glitch, causing the BoE to suspend the service until the problem is resolved. The situation is something of a nightmare for bankers: the system transfers money between banks in real time, acting as an intermediary, and is [...]
Emma Kane: Three things you didn’t know about the CEO and founder of Redleaf Polhill October 20, 2014 1 In the 1980s, Emma was a professional tenor saxophonist, having studied jazz and popular music. Today she gets her musical kicks through being chairman of the Barbican Centre Trust, a role to which she was appointed in September. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Board Director of Grange [...]
Government support for Saatchi Bill could mean dying patients are given untested drugs by March October 20, 2014 A Bill proposed by Lord Saatchi to give dying cancer patients access to unlicensed drugs could come into force by March, after the government and doctors voiced their support. Supporters of the Medical Innovation Bill, which will allow patients to volunteer for treatments using unlicensed drugs, believe it has a 75 per cent chance of [...]
UK property: South east overtakes London as region with fastest-growing house prices October 20, 2014 The south east has overtaken London as the region with the fastest-growing house prices, figures published today show – despite the average asking price in the capital hitting £596,000 in the year to October. According to research by Rightmove and Oxford Economics, prices in the capital grew 9.6 per cent during the period, while [...]