UK steel: Tata Steel sells European business to Greybull Capital June 1, 2016 Tata Steel has sold part of its European steel business to Greybull Capital, a private equity company. Greybull, which specialises in taking on struggling companies, has become the owner of Tata Steel's long products business, including the plants in Scunthorpe and mills on Teesside. Bimlendra Jha, executive chairman of the Long Products Europe business and [...]
Brexit vote too important to be left up to politicians June 1, 2016 Moan all you like about the EU referendum but it's got people talking. From Cornwall to the City and from the Western Isles to Westminster, people are engaged and discussing the issues. People are debating in restaurants and outside pubs and, as is always the case in political campaigns, they're doing so with more nuance and [...]
EU referendum: Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave trade blows over Brexit jobs risk June 1, 2016 If the UK leaves the European Union and the single market, London could miss out on tens of thousands of extra jobs, pro-EU campaigners have claimed, as Remain campaigners today seek to put forward the case for membership from manufacturers. Analysis by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) for the official Britain Stronger in [...]
Brexit would lead to a shake up of working time rules, according to one QC June 1, 2016 A Brexit vote would lead to "predictable" changes to the rights of workers, according to a QC, who argues that reforms to working time rules may be the first in line. In an analysis published by the TUC, Ford wrote that following separation from the EU, the UK government would have “pretty much unconstrained freedom” in relation to [...]
A shock poll showing an emerging lead for Brexit campaigners has hit the value of sterling May 31, 2016 Sterling plummeted yesterday after two surprise polls showed the British public moving closer towards a vote to leave the EU. The pound dropped to below $1.45 against the dollar last night, printing its lowest value since 23 May. The drop followed the publication of a shock poll yesterday afternoon which showed a possible lead for [...]
More than half of small business owners think Brexit would have little impact on recruitment according to research May 31, 2016 More than half of small business owners think that a Brexit vote would have little impact on their ability to recruit, according to new research from Bank of Cyprus UK. As part of their owner managed business barometer, the bank probed the views of 500 decision makers with ownership or part-ownership of businesses with fewer [...]
UK public leaning towards Brexit vote, says ICM poll May 31, 2016 Public opinion may have moved towards a Brexit vote, according to two new polls conducted by ICM. Working with The Guardian, the pollster conducted both online and telephone polls, with respondents split 52-48 in favour of a vote to leave. While those surveyed over the phone were more likely to respond that they "didn't know" [...]
French President Francois Hollande says he will not U-turn on labour reforms as strikes loom May 31, 2016 French President Francois Hollande has said that the controversial labour reforms will go ahead despite threats of industrial action on railways. Hollande's comments come as a national railway strike is due to commence tonight, with the Paris Metro set to join it on Thursday. Air France pilots have also voted to strike for at least six [...]
Russia’s Gazprom moves to quash Saudi-style gas price war speculation May 31, 2016 Russian export monopoly Gazprom has moved to quash speculation that it could start a price war in the European gas market. Analysts, industry experts and commentators have argued Russia, which supplies about a third of Europe's gas via pipelines, could cut its prices in response to higher cost US liquefied natural gas shipments. Such a move would [...]
The European Union lost over €880m to fraud in 2015 May 31, 2016 More than €880m (£675m) of EU funds was stolen by fraudsters last year, a new report from the European Union's anti-fraud body has found. The European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) responded to 1,442 allegations of fraud in 2015, closing more than 300 separate investigations which revealed €888.1m had been lost to fraud. This was slightly down on the €901m lost [...]