Federation of Small Businesses calls on London councils and TfL to offer free festive parking November 11, 2015 Business lobby group the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on London councils and Transport for London to offer free parking for Christmas shoppers over the festive period. With Small Business Saturday on 5 December, the FSB hopes that the organisations will nix the car parking charges. Half of the FSB’s members said that the [...]
Portuguese Socialist Party tries to stop imminent privatisation of state-owned airline day after ousting centre-right government November 11, 2015 Well that didn’t take long. Portugal’s Socialist Party has penned a letter requesting that state-owned company Parpublic halt the privatisation of airline TAP. The letter, which has been seen by Reuters, comes just a day after a Socialist-led coalition managed to oust the centre-right government from office. The new left-wing coalition could be brought into [...]
European businesses celebrate the UK’s calls for change, says executive chairman of COBCOE David Thomas November 11, 2015 Other countries in Europe are celebrating that the UK has put a case for change on the European agenda, according to executive chairman of the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE) David Thomas. Speaking to City A.M. Thomas said: The status quo situation in Europe is not tenable from a business perspective. Businesses across Europe [...]
CBRE hired by billionaire Carl Icahn to sell Fontainebleau casino November 11, 2015 Commercial real estate giant CBRE has been appointed by billionaire business magnate Carl Icahn to sell the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, an unfinished 68-story hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the company said today. The owners of the resort, which was planned to be a $3bn (£2bn) development which included a 3,800 room hotel, last week [...]
Fitch warns that Portuguese government debt is at risk of downgrade if Socialists take over November 11, 2015 A major ratings agency has said today that Portugal’s government debt is at risk of losing its already mediocre credit rating if the Socialist-led coalition is appointed to govern. Fitch said: Fiscal relaxation resulting in a less favourable trajectory in government debt/GDP levels could lead to negative rating action, as could weaker growth that had a [...]
EU migrant crisis: Advanced countries need to take more migrants, says International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde November 11, 2015 The head of the influential International Monetary Fund has thrown in her two cents on the EU’s migrant crisis with a two-page blog post published today. Lagarde said those who had accepted large numbers of refugees should be commended, but that “others, especially among the advanced countries, should look at how they might increase their [...]
Banks to use bitcoin technology blockchain as soon as 2016 November 11, 2015 Banks could integrate the technology underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin into some parts of their business as early as next year, according to a new report. Bitcoin utilises blockchain technology which enables the transfer of financial assets using cryptographically secured networks, and consequently removed the need for a third-party intermediary. Read more: UBS plays down potential of bitcoin The report [...]
Copper could soon become crucial for global disease prevention November 11, 2015 “Antimicrobial copper” could soon become a common term in the medical world – researchers from the University of Southampton have discovered that the metal can rapidly inactivate certain viruses, stopping them from spreading and causing disease. When they placed coronavirus 229E on a surface containing copper, they found that the virus was destroyed within minutes, [...]
Fleet Street fire: 30 firefighters put out blaze in flat above historic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub November 11, 2015 The London Fire Brigade has brought a blaze under control in a flat above the infamous Cheshire Cheese pub on Fleet Street this afternoon. The emergency service sent 30 firefighters and six fire engines to deal with the incident. No one was injured. LFB were called at 2.32pm, to a fire in a four room flat on the first floor, a [...]