SABMiller sale talk brews one-week high for blue-chip – London Report September 17, 2015 Britain’s top share index climbed to a one-week high yesterday, with SABMiller surging about 20 per cent after news that AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, was to make an offer to acquire the UK firm, the world’s second largest. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index finished 1.5 per cent stronger at 6,229.21 points. Earlier in [...]
Lord Browne: Saving the corporation – it’s time to reconnect September 17, 2015 Criticism of big business has long been a favourite pastime of the left. From Jeremy Corbyn to UK Uncut, such campaigners dominate discourse on the disconnect between companies and society, and the solutions proposed to deal with this issue consequently often have a punitive edge, from jailing bankers to renationalising industry. Enter one of [...]
Galliford boss to leave after set of record profits September 17, 2015 GALLIFORD Try’s outgoing executive chairman Greg Fitzgerald will leave the company on a high note after unveiling a record set of full-year profits, buoyed by a string of contract wins and a recovery in the construction and housing markets. Fitzgerald joined Galliford under one of its previous guises more than three decades ago when he [...]
MPs grill Bank of England’s Mark Carney on Beijing and interest rate rise timings September 17, 2015 Despite raising questions over the accuracy of Chinese economic data, Bank of England governor Mark Carney maintained yesterday that the threat to the world economy from China’s stock-market slump did not signal a slowdown for Britain. Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), Carney said: “Certainly, the Chinese statistics are published with remarkable speed [...]
David Cameron tells UK universities: crack down on extremists September 17, 2015 The government has announced new rules today that will legally require universities and colleges to monitor and counter extremist activities among their students. The new rules, set to go into effect next week, will force universities to “put in place specific policies to stop extremists radicalising students on campuses, tackle gender segregation at events [...]
Scottish independence is not inevitable: David Mundell attacks Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP referendum stance September 17, 2015 Independence is not inevitable, Scottish secretary David Mundell will say today in a speech in Edinburgh, one day before the first anniversary of last year’s Scottish independence referendum. “The result of the referendum – by over 10 percentage points on the highest turnout of modern times at 85 per cent – demonstrates that the [...]
EU referendum Yes campaign: London’s small businesses want to stay in the EU September 17, 2015 More than half of small businesses in the capital would vote for Britain to stay in the European Union, according to a new survey out today from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB, along with the independent research agency Verve, polled more than 6,000 members between June and July of this year, finding [...]
A sharper slowdown in China could derail the global economic recovery September 17, 2015 A slump in China poses a major threat to the global economy, especially if financial markets deteriorate further, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said yesterday. China’s economy is expected to grow 6.7 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2016, representing a slowdown from recent years’ growth. Some [...]
London is prime destination for foreign ventures September 17, 2015 London is the greatest city in the world at attracting foreign investment, according to new research. The capital left the likes of Paris, Singapore, Chicago and Dubai far in its wake for the seventh year running in 2014, according to the ranking from tech giant IBM. Foreign investment has generated 11,300 London jobs [...]
Nearly 41 per cent of small firms want to leave the EU September 17, 2015 Nearly 41 per cent of small firms want to leave the EU research released by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) today has found. The FSB found that 47 per cent of its members surveyed wanted to stay in the 28-member bloc, while 10.7 per cent of members were undecided. Exporters and employers of non-UK EU [...]