National Grid: The UK’s about to have its first 24 hours without coal since the Industrial Revolution April 21, 2017 The UK is about to experience its first day without using any coal power since the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Grid. The company tweeted this morning that today looked likely to be the first-ever continuous period without coal. The previous record is 19 hours, a National Grid spokesperson said. It looks likely that [...]
City watchdog FCA launches investigation into five major insurance brokers April 21, 2017 The Financial Conduct Authority has place five City aviation insurance brokers under investigation over alleged misuse of client information. The watchdog seized computers from five firms, including Aon, JLT, Marsh and Willis Towers Watson, according to a report in the Insurance Insider. The regulator is said to be investigating accusations that the firms in question [...]
UK house prices: Property transactions have fallen to their lowest since 2013 April 21, 2017 The number of homes bought in the UK fell to its lowest since 2013 last year, new figures have shown. Some 1.15m homes were bought between April last year and March this year, compared with 1.32m the year before, and 2m in 2014-15. The figures also showed the number of homes bought fell 40 per [...]
British pound sterling falls against the US dollar (USD) as British retail sales plummet at fastest quarterly rate since 2010 | City A.M. April 21, 2017 Retail sales in the UK fell at the sharpest quarterly rate for seven years in March as price increases started to weigh on the British consumer. Sales fell by 1.8 per cent during the month while store prices grew by 3.3 per cent, the fastest rate of growth since March 2012, according to the Office [...]
This is the London borough with the most empty homes April 21, 2017 Kensington and Chelsea has overtaken Lambeth as the London borough with the most empty houses. Lambeth had the most unused properties back in 2006, followed closely by Croydon, but the empty housing stock in these areas has now been occupied. In England as a whole, there are 200,145 empty homes, which are worth £43bn in [...]
UK house prices: Nearly six in 10 (58 per cent) expect the average property price to rise in the next 12 months April 21, 2017 Confidence in the UK housing market has risen following record declines, according to Halifax’s housing market confidence tracker. Nearly six in 10 (58 per cent) expect the average property price to rise in the next 12 months, compared to just one in 10 (14 per cent) who expect prices to fall. In May 2015, a [...]
Business groups and economists push back as May doubles down on net migration target April 20, 2017 Business groups and economists have hit out at Prime Minister Theresa May’s commitment to cutting the level of net immigration to below 100,000 people per year. Doubt was cast over the long-held target after culture secretary Karen Bradley said on Thursday that immigration policy “is not about putting numbers on it”. However, May insisted later [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan is hiring experts to boost street markets in the capital April 20, 2017 London mayor Sadiq Khan is setting up a “markets board”, the first of its kind in the capital, to help boost local businesses. Khan is recruiting a team of industry experts and business leaders to support growth in high streets and town centres. The London markets board will assist the mayor in coming up with [...]
Asleep at the wheel: MPs and campaigners blast transport top dogs over botched HS2 contract April 20, 2017 A whistleblower exposed a conflict of interest at the heart of a £170m High Speed 2 contract, it emerged yesterday, triggering fresh criticism of the government’s handling of procurement on its flagship £56bn rail project. American firm CH2M was awarded the development partner contract on HS2 in February, beating Bechtel and a joint venture between [...]
Biometric banking: Mastercard’s created a credit card with fingerprint recognition to replace pins April 20, 2017 You can ditch your pin next time you’re at the till – just a fingerprint is needed to pay with Mastercard’s latest credit card. Inspired by the likes of Apple, where a touch of your finger can unlock the iPhone, the card company is trialling the biometric technology to make it easier to pay. Here’s [...]