Sacre bleu: Eurostar staff’s work/life balance strike started at St Pancras this morning – here’s what you need to know August 12, 2016 The good news is that if you're planning on travelling to Paris today, things might not be as bad as expected – despite the fact RMT union members have put up pickets at St Pancras as they began the first stage of their work/life balance strike. The strike – which, lest we forget, was voted for [...]
Germany has beaten the forecast for growth in the second quarter, revealing its economy has not slowed as much as feared August 12, 2016 Germany has beaten forecasts for economic growth, reporting second quarter figures that show the economy slowing, but not as much as predicted. CMC Markets was among the firms predicting growth of 0.2 per cent, down from 0.7 per cent in the first three months of 2016. However, figures from the German Federal Statistics Office have [...]
What IEA report? Oil prices are back above $46 August 12, 2016 Brent crude oil prices rallied back above $46 this morning, after yesterday's hint by the Saudis that they might take further action to stabilise oil prices. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 0.87 per cent to $46.44 in early trading in London – although its US counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, was at $43.90, 0.94 per cent [...]
Garfunkel’s owner Restaurant Group has a new chief executive August 12, 2016 Garfunkel's owner Restaurant Group has taken a punt on the former chief executive of Paddy Power as its new chief executive. The company said today it was replacing Danny Breithaupt with Andy McCue, who stepped down form his role of chief operating officer of Paddy Power earlier this year. McCue had held the role of chief executive at [...]
Google is facing an antitrust investigation in South Korea less than 24 hours after being hit with a $6.8m competition fine in Russia August 12, 2016 Google is being investigated by South Korea's antitrust regulator over concerns the search giant has violated competition laws. The Korea Fair Trade Commission revealed the investigation in a brief statement, while Reuters has reported that the watchdog inspected Google's Seoul HQ last month. The KFTC has investigated Google before. In 2013, the regulator cleared Google [...]
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes: the cost of footballing injuries August 12, 2016 Injuries cost English Premier League clubs over £157m in wages last year, taking the total cost over the last five years to an eye-watering £0.7bn. Not afraid to complain about injuries, Arsene Wenger's concerns appear to be substantiated as Arsenal players were on the sidelines for a total of 1,553 days during the 2015/16 season. However this only put them second on [...]
Banning diesel cars is the wrong way to tackle pollution in London August 12, 2016 Everyone reading today’s copy of City A.M. wants clean air. But reducing pollution in our great city is a complex problem deserving of careful consideration and the adoption of a range of solutions. There is no magic bullet. Reducing emissions from all sources – whether planes, trains, cars or buses, or the polluting systems that [...]
Immigration supporters must face facts: The public has no confidence in the system August 12, 2016 How would I sum up the job of the new home secretary Amber Rudd when she thinks about immigration in a post-Brexit world? “Immigration might be good for your GDP, but it doesn’t help mine.” A friend made the point when he visited London a few weeks ago. He isn’t racist, he has nothing against [...]
After a gloomy RICS survey, should we be prepared for big falls in UK house prices? August 12, 2016 Andrew Craig, an independent financial adviser and founder of Plain English Finance, says Yes. We have already seen significant falls in house prices in the UK if, as should be the case, you measure such things in currency units other than pounds sterling. If you bought a property worth £1m around 10 years ago, that property [...]
UK front of the queue for US foreign direct investment August 12, 2016 British investment into the United States underpins more than one million jobs on the other side of the Atlantic, research has shown, highlighting the importance of the economic special relationship. Business group the CBI said the UK has retained its position as the single largest investor into the US, accounting for $449bn (£346bn) – or 15 per cent [...]