David Cameron’s housing construction shake-up fails to build market confidence: Experts disagree residential planning overhaul is game changer July 12, 2015 Housing developers had a bit of a rollercoaster ride last week. First the Budget rocked shares, with changes to tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages – and then, on Friday, the government unexpectedly put house building at the centre of its plan to boost the UK’s productivity. With the cost of a home jumping by 45 [...]
Women still left out of top FTSE positions July 12, 2015 Britain's blue chip firms hit their target of 25 per cent female directors this week, but campaigners say more still needs to be done. Research by Sapphire Partners, an executive recruitment agency, revealed that with several recent appointments, including Diane Schueneman at Barclays, Irene Lee and Pauline van der Meer Mohr at HSBC and [...]
Small firms sceptical of new dispute service as they face later payment July 12, 2015 The average delay in receiving payments faced by small businesses has risen to 72 days, according to new research published today by the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA). It is a day longer than a year ago and 11 days longer than at the peak of the recession. “Despite the economic recovery gathering pace, payment [...]
CBI: Apprentice levy won’t fix skills crisis July 12, 2015 Britain’s top business group will lash out at the government’s new apprenticeships plan today, arguing that the move is “unlikely” to help fix the UK’s skills shortage. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) publishes a survey this morning showing that over half of firms are afraid that they will not be able to find staff [...]
New HMRC debt recovery powers that allow direct access to bank accounts slammed by taxpayer group as “flying in the face of Magna Carta” July 12, 2015 The Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) has slammed new HMRC debt recovery powers which they said “fly in the face of Magna Carta”. Under the new direct recovery rules, which were announced in the 2014 Budget and are yet to come into force, HMRC would have the ability to seize funds directly from bank accounts. In a [...]
Greece offered Eurozone exit as alternative to bailout as Eurogroup talks continue late into the night July 12, 2015 Greece has been told it could make a temporary exit from the Eurozone if it fails to come to an agreement with its creditors in last-ditch tonight. Read more: Eurozone leaders assemble European leaders are once again locked in late night negotiations, after taking a second break for bilateral talks, as Greek looks to secure the much-needed [...]
Greek debt crisis: Angela Merkel, Alexis Tsipras, Francois Hollande and Eurozone leaders assemble for Brussels bailout talks July 12, 2015 Eurozone leaders have assembled in Brussels to discuss a deal to bailout Greece from its debt crisis after a morning of talks between finance ministers. “We’re now going to inform the leaders we’ve finalised our discussion. We’ve come a long way but a couple of big issues still are open so we’re going to put [...]
Greece debt crisis: EC president Donald Tusk cancels 28 member EU Summit as European finance ministers resume “difficult” talks July 12, 2015 An emergency summit between the 28 leaders of the European Union has been called off, as talks between European finance ministers resume today in a last-ditch effort to come to an agreement on Greece's bailout proposals. Ministers locked in talks until midnight on Saturday failed to come to a consensus on Greece's proposals for new [...]
Greek debt crisis: Eurozone finance ministers divided in tough talks July 11, 2015 The finance ministers of the Eurozone countries have warned there will be tough negotiations as they meet to discuss whether Greece’s new reform proposals are a basis for a third bailout. Eurogroup chief and Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said there was a “major issue of trust”, while Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany’s finance minister, said the [...]
How has the pound performed over the last 12 months? July 11, 2015 Over the last year the pound has had a mixed performance against the world’s major currencies, according to new research. Sterling has declined in value against 30 out of 61 currencies analysed, increasing against 30, Lloyds Bank Private Banking research showed. Sterling also outperformed nine out of the 16 currencies in the G20 group of [...]