The National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank and Alphabank share price: Banks send Greek stocks to lowest level since 1990 February 8, 2016 Heavy losses among Greek bank shares, sparked by fresh political uncertainty over the country's €86bn (£66.4bn) bailout, sent its stocks to their lowest level since 1990 today. Traders and analysts attributed the turbulence to uncertainty that a bailout review by the country's lenders could drag on. Greece's "troika" of creditors – the European Commission, the European Central [...]
Plans for revamp of Camden Lock Market and historic underground waterway given the go-ahead February 8, 2016 The owners of London's Camden Lock Market have won planning permission to push ahead with a £20m overhaul the iconic site that includes opening up a Grade II-listed underground waterway to the public for the first time. Market Tech Holdings, which owns around 15 acres of land in and around Camden, said Camden Council unanimously backed the [...]
Déjà vu… US crude is under $30 again as industry leaders predict the supply glut will continue February 8, 2016 The US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), has once again dipped under the $30 per barrel mark, having hovered over the psychological barrier for a week. Brent crude was trading around $33.29 when WTI fell under $30. The latest drop comes as world’s largest independent oil-trading house warns the oil prices could stay low for as long as [...]
Total’s flagship gas project at Laggan-Tormore in the West of Shetland starts production February 8, 2016 French energy giant Total announced gas from its flagship Laggan-Tormore project, off the Shetland Islands in the North Sea, started flowing to the mainland today. Laggan-Tormore, which is the first new large gas field in Britain since 2013, will eventually supply 2m households, meeting about eight per cent of the UK’s energy needs. "Laggan-Tormore is a [...]
India overtakes China as world’s fastest growing large economy in 2015 February 8, 2016 India's economy has overtaken China's to become the world's fastest growing large economy. Figures published by the country's Central Statistics office today showed the economy grew 7.3 per cent in the final three months of the year compared with the same period in 2014. It marks a slight slowdown from the three months to September when the economy [...]
UK financial services touted worldwide, but Yorkshire and the Northern Powerhouse oust London as stars of the show February 8, 2016 The City of London may be known for its financial prowess but, as government gears up to promote the financial services sector worldwide, it's Yorkshire, not the capital, that is taking the starring role. UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is adding Yorkshire to its Financial Centres of Excellence initiative, which is designed to promote UK financial services to [...]
Markets around Europe are tumbling on disappointing Chinese currency reserves February 8, 2016 Markets around Europe have plummeted following what started out looking like a good day. The FTSE 100 is down by nearly two per cent and at pixel time is at 5,744.05. It opened up this morning but has been unable to hold onto early gains. The blue chip index is now just 100 points off from becoming [...]
Npower becomes latest “big six” energy supplier to slash gas bills after announcing 5.2 per cent cut February 8, 2016 Npower has become the latest "big six" energy supplier to whittle down customers' gas bills, amid mounting calls for firms to pass on record low wholesale gas prices to their customers. It comes after similar cuts from rivals E.ON, SSE and Scottish Power in recent weeks, on the back of falling wholesale gas prices. Npower said that it [...]
Flexible working boosts productivity and profits February 8, 2016 Flexible working regularly gets honourable mentions alongside things like longer holidays as one of employees’ most-wanted perks. And it now seems firms are catching on fast. Three quarters of companies worldwide have adopted flexible working policies, according to a survey from Vodafone of 8,000 employers and employees across 10 countries and three continents. And the [...]
Boardroom diversity isn’t everything: Female executives boost firms’ profits February 8, 2016 Stop obsessing over women on boards: if you want results, what really matters is more women in leadership, according to a major study analysing 21,000 companies worldwide. Firms with at least 30 per cent female leaders stand to gain as much as six percentage points to their profit margins. Those with no female representation pay [...]