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 [...]
Grexit is “not inevitable”, says Moody’s May 29, 2015 Greece is likely to remain in the euro even if it defaults on a €300m repayment to the International Monetary Fund on 5 June, credit ratings giant Moody's said today. Although analysts have speculated over the likelidhood of a Greek exit from the Eurozone, today it would not happen automatically, according to the report, which [...]
US GDP beats expectations – but still falls by 0.7 per cent May 29, 2015 US GDP fell by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, official statistics published today showed – better than the 0.9 per cent drop expected by analysts, but nevertheless a disappointing performance. The figure is a sharp fall from the 0.2 per cent growth originally estimated for the first quarter, although [...]
Greece falls back into recession as IMF chief Christine Lagarde warns on Grexit May 29, 2015 New data published this morning has confirmed Greece plunged back into recession last quarter – just as International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said this morning that a comprehensive deal with Greece to avoid it defaulting on loan repayments is "very unlikely… in the next few days". Read more: What happens if Greece defaults [...]
UK directors tell Fifa backers to speak out after Visa sponsorship threatened following corruption charges May 28, 2015 Britain's bosses have piled more pressure on Fifa’s sponsors to end their support for the under-fire football governing body. In light of the latest scandal to engulf Sepp Blatter’s organisation, the Institute of Directors (IoD) called on sponsors and their shareholders to act, unless Fifa radically reforms its standards of governance. Visa has [...]
FCA watchdog Martin Wheatley: I am not hunting for bankers’ scalps May 28, 2015 Top watchdog Martin Wheatley yesterday denied he wants to “put heads on sticks” or to go “scalp hunting” in his campaign to make banks and managers more accountable. In a firm defence of the plan to make bosses of failed banks prove they took reasonable steps to mitigate risks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief [...]