South east: Fracking will be good for you August 18, 2013 POLITICIANS and businesses have thrown their support behind fracking, insisting the controversial form of gas extraction is vital for the UK’s growth and poses no threat to local communities. Hundreds of protesters yesterday brought the Sussex village of Balcombe to a standstill with a rally against shale gas exploration, and further action is planned [...]
BT Sport pulls in the fans amid £1bn Sky Sports war August 18, 2013 BT SPORT kicked off its bid to take on rival Sky Sports with a peak television audience of 764,000 for its opening day match on Saturday, it emerged yesterday. The number tuning in for the lunchtime fixture between Liverpool and Stoke City is on a par with opening day games shown on broadcasters ESPN and [...]
Buyers flock to market but supply shortage hits sales August 18, 2013 IN THE year to July, the number of first-time buyers in London rose by an astonishing 109.1 per cent. According to information released today by estate agent Haart, there has been a 27.9 per cent rise in new buyers across the country, and a 60.3 per cent increase in London alone. Despite this surge in [...]
Foreign firms return to Egypt as cabinet meet to resolve unrest August 18, 2013 SEVERAL foreign companies operating in Egypt have reopened their offices and facilities today despite continued violence and bloodshed in the country. General Motors and German chemicals firm BASF reopened facilities yesterday while Electrolux said it would partly resume operations today. The Swedish home appliances manufacturing giant, which has nearly 7,000 employees in Egypt and around [...]
Outen quits crime squad August 18, 2013 A FORMER KPMG partner picked to head the government’s new financial crime-fighting unit has unexpectedly stepped down, just months after his position was announced with great fanfare. Jeremy Outen was appointed in April as director designate of the Economic Crime Command at the National Crime Agency (NCA), which is due to launch in October. Outen [...]
Prescott warns Labour is failing in media war August 18, 2013 LABOUR heavyweight Lord Prescott yesterday attacked his party’s performance and called on Ed Miliband to sack weak shadow cabinet members. The ex-Deputy Prime Minister insisted “time is running out” for Labour to build momentum ahead of the 2015 general election. “This summer, we massively failed to get our case over to the public and hold [...]
JP Morgan in alleged China bribery probe August 18, 2013 US AUTHORITIES are investigating JP Morgan’s hiring practices in China, suspecting the bank of hiring well connected children of officials to win business in the country, it emerged over the weekend. Documents leaked to the New York Times show the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating claims the bank hired the son of a [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 August 2013 August 18, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES House of Fraser eyes London listing House of Fraser, the British department store chain, has considered a return to the public markets to help simplify its ownership structure. The group is mulling a listing in London, although this is being considered alongside other options to allow shareholders to exit the group, said one [...]
HS2 rubbishes claim that costs could hit £80bn August 18, 2013 THE COMPANY developing the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway last night hit out at claims that the cost of the route will eventually hit £80bn, insisting the figure is based on ideology rather than reality. A report released today by the free market Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank concludes that local lobbying campaigns [...]
KPMG warns banks may never recover to pre-crisis profitability August 18, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest banks may never again achieve the same level of profitability that they enjoyed before the financial crisis, consultants at KPMG warned in a major report out this morning. Although all five of the largest lenders are now making money, the rising tide of regulations and increased caution since the crisis mean they will [...]