Cost of household water bills in UK set to drop by £20 over next five years December 12, 2014 The cost of water bills for households in England and Wales is set to fall by an average five per cent over the next five years, under a new rule being introduced by industry regulator Ofwat. Before adjustments for inflation, average bills received by home owners across the two countries will fall to £376 [...]
The UK has the most valuable online shopping market in the developed world December 12, 2014 The UK spends more money per head online than any other developed country, with the average Brit spending £2,000 per year on the likes of Amazon, Asos and John Lewis. In the UK, 59 per cent of people said that they had use online shopping at least once a week to buy products, according to [...]
US government narrowly averts a(nother) shutdown December 12, 2014 It was another heart-in-mouth moment for Barack Obama last night, as the US House of Representatives narrowly averted the second government shutdown in just over a year within two-and-a-half hours of its deadline. After a day of to-ing and fro-ing, as well as pressure on rebellious Democrats, the House finally passed a $1 trillion (£636.2bn) [...]
Gucci’s chief executive and creative director to leave within two months of each other December 12, 2014 Gucci's creative director Frida Giannani and chief executive Patrizio di Marco are stepping down within two months of each other, the luxury brand revealed this morning. Di Marco will leave the company on January 1, while Giannini departs at the end of February, after showing her autumn 2015 collection. Di Marco has been [...]
Nigel Farage has made more BBC Question Time appearances than anyone else this decade following clash with Russell Brand December 12, 2014 No one has appeared on Question Time more than Nigel Farage this decade. Following his hotly anticipated clash with Russell Brand on Thursday, Farage has made 12 appearances as a guest on Question Time since 2010. In fact, since the Ukip leader first sat on David Dimbleby’s panel in November 2000, only three [...]
China’s industrial output slows as factories close to combat carbon emissions December 12, 2014 Manufacturing output in China slipped to a year-on-year rate of 7.2 per cent in November, failing to match the 7.7 per cent achieved in October and falling below the target of 7.5 per cent for the month. The figures, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, reflect the impacts of a widespread closure of [...]
Raider Crystal Amber attracts new interest in Sainsbury’s as investor seeks to shake-up supermarket giant December 11, 2014 Activist investor Crystal Amber has been approached by more investors in the past few days interested in participating in a major shake-up of Sainsbury’s. The Aim-listed firm’s founder Richard Bernstein told City A.M. that it had held talks with several “clearly interested” parties since the weekend when it emerged that it was targeting a move [...]
London estate agent Knight Frank cuts ties with Zoopla over new website Onthemarket.com December 11, 2014 Property website Zoopla yesterday brushed off the break up of its partnership with London estate agents Knight Frank, with share price dipping by just 0.35 per cent. Knight Frank’s decision to cut ties with the online business comes ahead of a January 2015 launch of Onthemarket.com. Knight Frank is one of the founders [...]
Barclays among 10 banks fined for abusing research to win deals December 11, 2014 TEN GLOBAL banks were fined a total of $43.5m (£27.7m) by US regulators yesterday for their attempts to misuse analysts’ research to gain lucrative jobs on Toys R Us’ attempted stock market flotation in 2010. Analysts’ research is supposed to be a neutral assessment of a floating stock’s value. But the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (Finra) said [...]
Bank of England to publish transcripts from financial crisis era December 11, 2014 City economists will gain an unprecedented level of insight into the Bank of England’s decision-making process, as Mark Carney yesterday agreed to publish more information than ever. Detailed transcripts of policymakers’ discussions at the height of the financial crisis will be published, with some redactions to cover sensitive areas. And in future, transcripts [...]