These UK companies are creating technologies to make ageing more pleasant November 11, 2015 A handful of companies in London and the South East have been awarded backing to turn their healthcare inventions into reality. As part of the first ever MedTechSouthEast competition, 10 firms have been selected for their innovative designs to help elderly people stay independent for longer – a crucial development in an ageing society. The [...]
Tube fare hikes have cost Londoners an extra £2,683 each, a new report shows November 11, 2015 Talk about a top-up: Londoners have each spent an additional £2,683 using the London Underground since 2008, thanks to fare hikes. The team behind Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan crunched the numbers, finding commuters going between Zone 1 and Zone 6 have been charged an extra £2,683 for their monthly travel cards since 2008, compared to a [...]
Britons don’t want to pay for online content – but they are making that more likely by turning to ad blockers November 11, 2015 Only four per cent of Britons would be happy to pay to access content online rather than see advertising, according to a new study. And yet, and yet, the number of Britons who are using ad blocking technology has risen again, with an estimated 7.3m people in the UK now doing so – a trend [...]
Nearly three in four UK financial services firms say cutting skilled migration will hurt the economy November 11, 2015 Britain's financial services companies are overwhelmingly worried that proposed changes to visas for non-European Union workers will make it difficult to attract top talent. A new survey out today from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) found that 73 per cent of finance workers think that the government’s plans to reduce the number of [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: After Asda pulled out of the big deals day, will it fade to grey? November 11, 2015 Asda’s decision to opt-out of the US-imported shopping holiday begs one question: Could this be Britain’s last Black Friday? With high-street retailers like Primark and Oasis also deciding to pull out of the Black Friday race, this is a huge sign that perhaps this one-day shopping bonanza could be abandoned by the majority of the [...]
Shocker as British Chambers of Commerce finds school students aren’t ready for the working world November 11, 2015 Though teens can add selfies to their Snapchat stories in record speed, they're still far from ready to enter the work force after secondary school, a research published today has found. The report, by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), found 69 per cent of businesses think that secondary schools aren't equipping their students with the skills they need [...]
Sainsbury’s share price falls as profits plummet 18 per cent, dividend slashed in going price war November 11, 2015 Update: Sainsbury's share price has fallen six per cent so far today, after revealing a nearly 18 per cent fall in profit, despite slashing its interim dividend by a third. The figures Sainsbury's group sales were down two per cent to £13.6bn for the 28 weeks to 26 September, while retail sales were down 0.1 per cent excluding fuel. Like-for-likes dropped [...]
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi hammers home need for closer Eurozone financial integration at the Bank of England’s Open Forum November 11, 2015 Mario Draghi has used his speech at the Bank of England's Open Forum to underscore the need for the Eurozone to fully push on with its banking and capital market union. He argues: First, as the vast majority of money is issued by private banks – bank deposits – there can only be a single currency if [...]
ICAP confirms sale of voice-brokerage to Tullett Prebon as revenues slide four per cent November 11, 2015 ICAP shares soared this morning, up 5.64 per cent in morning trading after announcing it would sell its global voice-broking and information business to rival Tullett Prebon. The sale redeemed the group's half-year results, which reported revenues were down four per cent in the six months ended 30 September, from £620m the year before to [...]
Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna to chancellor George Osborne: Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face November 11, 2015 While the deficit and debt need to be reduced, "raiding growth inducing budgets" such as that of the department of business is a "false economy", former shadow business secretary has warned chancellor George Osborne. Speaking in Warwick to a group of manufacturers including representatives from Boeing and Jaguar Landrover, Unumma warned that ahead of the chancellor [...]