London mayoral election 2016: Exclusive new poll shows Goldsmith leads Khan by 39 per cent among London businesses January 12, 2016 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith is overwhelmingly seen by London firms as being more pro-business than his Labour rival Sadiq Khan, according to a new poll seen exclusively by City A.M. Two-thirds of London businesses think Goldsmith is pro-business, while just 29 per cent say the same of Khan, according to the poll, conducted by ComRes for [...]
Soon there will be Oyster-style contactless payment technology on all public transport across the UK January 12, 2016 Contactless payments on buses and trains will no longer confined to London, with new plans to install the technology across the country, the UK Cards Association said today. Rail operators have provided funding for joint project between the card and rail industry to see how contacless cards and devices could be associated with long distance train tickets or [...]
Proposed national insurance tax rule could be easily dodged, warns Chartered Institute of Taxation January 12, 2016 A representative body for tax professionals today warned that proposed rules designed to tighten up claims for national insurance reductions could be too easy to dodge. The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) cautioned that HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) plans to stop limited companies where the director is the sole employee from claiming Employment Allowance [...]
Comeback currency of the year: Bitcoin beat the dollar by nearly 40 per cent last year to become the best performer of 2015 January 12, 2016 Bitcoin was the world’s best-performing currency in 2015, beating out the US dollar by nearly 40 per cent. The cryptocurrency has been on a roll lately, boosted to hit a 2016 high of $450 by recent turmoil on Chinese stock markets. In afternoon trading, the currency was at $446.31. “Bitcoin is living up to its [...]
Goldman Sachs is biding its time and waiting for markets to fall further in 2016 before it starts buying stocks again January 12, 2016 The stock markets can fall further, is the message from Goldman Sachs' managing director for portfolio strategy, Christian Mueller-Glissmann, but when they do it will be the time to buy. A note from Goldman Sachs said "We certainly expect to see a good buying opportunity at some point, but either fundamental conditions need to improve, or valuations will need to compress further [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn steps down as head of parliamentary anti-nukes campaign amid Trident row January 12, 2016 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has stepped down from his post as leader of a cross-party group opposing the proliferation of nuclear weapons amid growing discontent over the Labour party's stance on Trident. Corbyn resigned as chair of the Parliamentary Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), and has been replaced by Caroline Lucas, the Green Party announced in a [...]
Internet goes crazy after Arizona University scientist Lawerence Krauss tweets his team may have discovered gravitational waves January 12, 2016 The scientific community is brimming with excitement after it emerged gravitational waves may have finally been discovered. Lawrence Krauss, a prominent cosmologist from Arizona University, tweeted yesterday saying rumours had been confirmed by independent sources. My earlier rumor about LIGO has been confirmed by independent sources. Stay tuned! Gravitational waves may have been discovered!! Exciting. — [...]
Mark Carney says UK recovery is not fuelled by debt January 12, 2016 Bank of England chief Mark Carney has played down fears that the UK's economic recovery has been based on an unsustainable credit boom. Speaking at at farewell symposium for Christian Noyer, the Bank of France's governor, Carney said "this is not a debt-fuelled recovery". He pointed out that private sector debt to GDP had fallen [...]
Skyscanner is the UK’s first unicorn of 2016 after raising $192m new investment January 12, 2016 The UK's first unicorn of 2016 has been conjured as flight search app Skyscanner landed new funding which reportedly values the Edinburgh-based startup at $1.6bn (£1.1bn). The gallop into unicorn territory (a valuation of more than $1bn) is the result of $192m new investment by five investors, the FT first reported, UK fund manager Artemis, Ballie Gifford, the [...]