Douglas Carswell shock defection from Conservative party fails to rock David Cameron August 28, 2014 Carswell quits Tories for Ukip… but eurosceptic MPs stick by Cameron Conservative MP and eurosceptic Douglas Carswell stunned his party yesterday by announcing that his defection to Ukip, triggering a by-election in his Clacton, Essex, seat and a headache for Prime Minister David Cameron. Ukip leader Nigel Farage used the defection to claim that other [...]
AA is driving forward with a new leader Bob Mackenzie August 28, 2014 Motor icon AA yesterday crowned the mastermind behind its £1.4bn market debut as leader of the group after its current boss quit after just eight months. Bob Mackenzie, who used to run Britain’s car park operator NCP, has emerged as the most powerful figure at the 110-year old institution after incumbent boss Chris Jansen’s departure. [...]
Confident consumers to drive growth into autumn August 28, 2014 Confidence in the UK economy climbed again this month, with one major index hitting the highest level in nearly a decade, a positive signal for growth in the rest of 2014. GfK’s consumer confidence index rose back into positive territory this month, rising to one – the survey has only risen into positive territory once [...]
Apple unveils its next big thing on 9 September August 28, 2014 TECHNOLOGY titan Apple sent out cryptic event invitations last night for what is widely expected to be its unveiling of two new iPhones, and possibly its first foray into the wearable technology space its long-awaited smartwatch. On its invitation the iPhone-maker teases: “Wish we could say more” on a simple black and white background with [...]
Chilango raises £2.2m with its burrito bond August 28, 2014 London burrito restaurant Chilango has raised a tasty sum through its so-called “burrito bond”, which it funded through crowdfunding platform CrowdCube. The Mexican food chain raised £2.2m, more than double what it was aiming for. Almost 750 investors bought into the four-year mini-bond, which offers a fixed-rate of eight per cent in cash twice a [...]
Ocado share price slumps as City analyst slashes forecast August 28, 2014 Shares in Ocado tumbled 19 per cent yesterday after equities broker Redburn Partners took a knife to its forecasts and claimed the online grocer’s technology was less valuable than previously thought. Redburn’s retail analyst James Tracey downgraded the company from “buy” to “sell” and cut its 2015 earnings forecast by 57 per cent to £17.1m [...]
Markets wobble as Obama looks to push sanctions against Russia August 28, 2014 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday said the US would look for ways to expand economic sanctions on Russia, after Kiev accused Moscow of moving troops into south eastern Ukraine. But he stopped short of calling the recent Russian aggression an invasion. US stocks edged lower as growing tensions snapped focus back to the volatile region, [...]
Banks still fail to lend more to small businesses August 28, 2014 THE FUNDING for Lending (FLS) scheme is still failing to increase loans to smaller firms, according to figures released yesterday by the Bank of England. The banks participating in the scheme drew down £3.2bn between April and June, despite the fact that overall credit to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was still on a declining [...]
Scottish businesses vote Yes for independence – the large and the small August 28, 2014 More than 200 Scottish business leaders yesterday published a letter in support of Scotland leaving the UK, one day after a rival group of 130 leaders had backed keeping the Union. The letter was signed by some prominent figures including Stagecoach chair Sir Brian Souter and the former boss of William Hill, Ralph Topping. But critics [...]
CBI shrinks its Scottish dinner to fit with rules August 28, 2014 THE GUESTLIST shrank, flowers disappeared from tables and guests were instructed to wear business dress, not black tie. It sounds like the beginning of a murder mystery play, but it is, in fact, what the Scottish branch of the CBI was forced to do in order to meet election rules for its annual dinner last night. [...]