Kwik Fit wants you to lose the spare tyre by lifting tyres January 4, 2016 If you need a little help shifting that post-Christmas paunch, where do you go? Err, a tyre fitters. Of course. Where better to shift that spare tyre than somewhere already familiar with, well, shifting spare tyres. That's what you can do at Kwik Fit's new fitness class where lifting, flipping and throwing tyres will help you [...]
UK house prices: There are now 10 buyers for each property on the market – with first-time buyers hit hardest January 4, 2016 Thinking of putting your house on the market this year? Now's the time to do it, after new figures suggested there are now 10 prospective buyers for each property on the market. The National Association of Estate Agents' (NAEA) November Housing Market Report showed the number of house-hunters grew 20 per cent in during the [...]
CSI300, Shenzhen composite index and Shanghai composite index: The full scale of China’s stock market carnage January 4, 2016 Chinese stocks kicked off the new year dispiritingly, after trading was suspended on its blue-chip CSI300, which suffered its worst day in nine years. The CSI300 crashed down seven per cent, and triggered the so-called "circuit breaker" suspension mechanism. The measure, which was introduced to curb volatility in the wake of Black Monday, was used for the first time today. [...]
EE boss Olaf Swantee will step down after BT deal with Marc Allera named successor January 4, 2016 EE boss Olaf Swantee will step down following the mobile network's soon-to-be completed £12.5bn merger with BT. Swantee, chief executive since 2011, will be succeeded by Marc Allera, currently chief commercial officer at EE. “As we approach the imminent completion of the deal with BT and the start of an exciting new chapter for EE, I’ve taken [...]
Argentina’s new government under Mauricio Macri will continue Falklands claim January 4, 2016 The new government of Argentina led by president Mauricio Macri has said it will continue to push ahead with its claim over the Falkland Islands. The election of Macri last year signalled a friendlier diplomatic approach than predecessor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the Argentine Foreign Ministry has now called for a peaceful settlement to the dispute. In a statement on Sunday it said: “Argentina [...]
Brace yourselves: Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is launching his own political movement, DiEM 25 January 4, 2016 Yanis Varoufakis – Greece's motorbike-riding, leather jacket-wearing, Paris Match-posing former finance minister – is back, with plans launch his own political movement. German socialist newspaper Neues Deutschland reported today that Varoufakis will launch a "pan-European activist network" known as the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25 to its friends). The movement is billed as the "third alternative" between renationalisation campaigns and "anti-democratic EU institutions", [...]
How do you pick a career? Fear is a key motivator for a quarter of UK workers, but at least we’re tackling it face on January 4, 2016 It's not childhood dreams or passion for a particular subject that motivates many people to pick their career path. Research from jobs website CV-Library has found that just over a quarter (26 per cent) of UK workers choose their job because they were trying to avoid certain workplace fears. In the survey of more than [...]
Women’s networks alone can’t solve companies’ gender diversity problems, we need male leaders to get involved January 4, 2016 When a pink envelope with the words “dress for success” arrives on your desk, do you think: a) “hurrah, a party”, b) “bit cringe-worthy” or c) “where's the blue envelope for my male colleague?” This scenario greeted a junior lawyer recently, upon receiving this exact invitation to attend her company's female lawyers’ network event. Men-only [...]
Jeremy Corbyn attends Kings Cross protest over rail fare increases as 62 per cent of commuters say they’d support train nationalisation January 4, 2016 Jeremy Corbyn was among a number of people protesting against the increase in rail fares at Kings Cross this morning. The Labour leader paused for photos as the #RailRipOff campaign got under way, following the 1.1 per cent rail fare increase, which came into effect on 2 January. He was joined by representatives of union TSSA, [...]
Travel disruption on Southern, Southeastern, Thameslink and South West Trains as rail fares rise 1.1 per cent January 4, 2016 Signalling failures, engineering works and unspecified "problems" meant it was back to work (or rather, not) with a bump for commuters this morning, as a number of London trains were delayed and cancelled. South West Trains said a "problem" at the depot near Guildford meant some trains to and from London Waterloo were being cancelled "as [...]