Top 100 firms double in value to $16.2 trillion: Apple heads list as HSBC named UK’s most valuable company June 1, 2015 The world’s biggest 100 firms now have a combined value of more than $16 trillion (£10.7 trillion), almost double their market capitalisation in 2009, a PwC study reveals today. Technology firms have driven the boom in valuations – just 12 firms in the sector have a combined valuation of $2.8 trillion. Six years ago, the [...]
Land Registry: UK house prices up in April, driven by semi-detached properties June 1, 2015 The rising value of semi-detached homes has led a rise in house prices across the UK in April, the latest Land Registry figures show. The average price of a semi – now £170,470 – was up 5.6 per cent on last year, helping annual prices rise 5.1 per cent overall, and bringing the average value [...]
At least one German believes a deal with Greece is possible – EU commissioner Guenter Oettinger says agreement could be reached by end of week June 1, 2015 Against a background of pessimism from everyone involved, there is one German official who believes a deal between Greece and its creditors is in sight. Guenter Oettinger, Germany's EU commissioner, said this morning a deal could be achieved this week. "We will need progress at the working group level, in order that we [...]
Greek leader resents way creditors have behaved June 1, 2015 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras launched a scathing tirade of criticism at the country’s creditors yesterday, accusing them of giving a false representation of negotiations and hitting out at their insistence that Greece stick to its austere path. “The lack of an agreement so far is not due to the supposed intransigent, uncompromising and incomprehensible [...]
Cambridge, Guildford and Reading: These are the UK cities where getting a job is easiest June 1, 2015 If you want to play the odds when going for a job, you might want to focus on some of the major satellite cities around London. The cities with the highest number of jobs per applicant were found in the south of England. Cambridge had just 0.11 jobseekers per vacancy, while Guildford had 0.15. People living [...]
David Cameron says free childcare to double in 2016 to 30 hours per week for working parent households May 31, 2015 Working parents can look forward to 15 hours of additional free childcare each week as soon as next year, the Prime Minister will say today. David Cameron will announce that the government is bringing forward its plans to increase free childcare for working parents, from 15 hours to 30 hours per week. On [...]
Professional hiring on the up as salaries in engineering and finance rise May 31, 2015 Finance and accounting staff are in growing demand as Britain’s economic recovery takes off, recruiters at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCO) revealed today. The number of vacancies for professionals on recruiters’ books is up 16 per cent on the year, with finance and accounting positions up 11 per cent. Salaries for new finance [...]
Competition for UK workers climbs in April as job vacancies rise May 31, 2015 The UK’s job market tightened further in April, with the number of vacancies climbing and the number of jobseekers falling. There were 1,033,435 job vacancies in April, according to figures released today by job search site Adzuna.co.uk. It marks a post-recession high and is 25.6 per cent more than in the same month [...]
Tax Freedom Day: The average Briton “works for 150 days a year” just to pay their taxes May 31, 2015 The average British citizen works for 150 days of the year solely to pay their taxes, according to the Adam Smith Institute, organisers of Tax Freedom Day. The UK's Tax Freedom Day fell on 31 May this year, one day later than it did in 2014. It is calculated by the Adam Smith Institute, and [...]
UK economy grows at fastest rate in a year says CBI May 31, 2015 Dismayed by the weak GDP growth announced earlier this week? Don't be, says the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). In contrast to the tiny 0.3 per cent first quarter growth revealed in official figures last month, the CBI has argued that Britain's private sector recorded its strongest economic growth for a year in the three [...]