Shoe giant Brantano enters administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk January 21, 2016 Shoe giant Brantano has entered administration, with around 2,000 British jobs at risk – the first retailer casualty of the year. Tony Barrell, Mike Jervis and Rob Hunt of PwC were appointed joint administrators of the 140-store company. Staff at the business, which is headquartered in Leicester, will be paid any wages in arrears, and will continue [...]
The return of the mega project helps value of construction schemes hit £74bn in 2015 January 21, 2016 Construction projects soared by £10bn in value last year to £74bn thanks to a resurgence in large-scale schemes. The number of projects commissioned in 2015 decreased by 4.7 per cent year-on-year to under 12,000. However, the total value increased overall as schemes grew bigger, with the average project value rising by 18 per cent to [...]
Wall Street markets open to more volatility, but S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all currently trading up January 21, 2016 Volatility characterised US markets again as they tentatively opened higher only to fall back before rebounding again in the first 20 minutes after markets opened. The S&P 500 is up 0.71 per cent, or 13.1 points to 1872.46, having fallen to 1850. The Nasdaq recovered from a low point of 4438, and is currently up 28 [...]
London housing crisis? Deloitte and other businesses might soon have to build houses for staff January 21, 2016 The ever increasing cost of living in London has led one of the City's biggest employers to consider building its own housing for junior staff. Deloitte has already helped younger staff joining the firm with securing rental accommodation because of the struggles of finding somewhere affordable to live in the capital. But now it has said it may even need [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices steady after a shaky start January 21, 2016 Oil prices steadied today, shrugging off a shaky start which saw it fall back towards 12-year lows touched earlier this week. Brent crude, the global benchmark, increased 1.22 per cent to $28.22 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, rose 0.95 per cent to $28.54. But the black stuff is still down by [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence edges down in January but remains at elevated levels January 21, 2016 Eurozone consumer confidence has fallen this month, according to figures released today. The European Commission's flash consumer confidence indicator dropped 0.6 points to a score of minus 6.3 in January. However, the figures show confidence is still at historically high levels. Flash figures are estimates based on incomplete survey data. Final figures based on all survey reponses will be published [...]
E.on abandons planned UK Isles Wind Farm project due to objections January 21, 2016 Energy giant E.on has shelved plans for a huge wind farm project in north east England, blaming environmental and technical issues. "These include the longstanding objection from the Ministry of Defence, the high bird activity on the site, investor uncertainty and changes to planning law," it said in a statement released today. "The combination of these [...]
Bank of England’s Martin Weale says wage growth is too slow for an interest rate hike January 21, 2016 Another member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee as flagged up slow wage growth as a reason they are likely to hold off on voting for an interest rate increase. "Whatever the causes of the recent weakness, inflation is unlikely to recover back to target without a marked improvement in wage growth," Martin Weale [...]
Memo to Barclays staff from Tom King confirms job cuts at its investment bank as it closes its Moscow and Brazil offices January 21, 2016 Barclays has confirmed hundreds of job cuts as it unveiled plans to pull out of some emerging markets. In a memo to staff today, Tom King, the new chief of Barclays' investment bank, said the bank will re-focus on its businesses in the UK and US, as well as maintaining a presence in key markets including China, Hong [...]
Euro plummets as Mario Draghi opens the door for more easing in March January 21, 2016 Eurozone monetary policy could be loosened further in March, European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi has suggested. The euro immediately dropped 0.6 per cent against the dollar. European stocks shot up, with the German Dax rising over one per cent, building on earlier gains. The French Cac 40 also jumped an extra one per cent after [...]