Email error turns yellows red September 16, 2013 Journalists couldn’t decide whether it was a clever ploy or an embarrassing mistake when the Lib Dem press office sent a confidential briefing note to its entire mailing list. The document, first published on City A.M.’s website, armed MPs with punchy soundbites like “the party is in a confident mood”. But it also included a [...]
Cable backs the good book September 16, 2013 After David Cameron compared business secretary Vince Cable to Jeremiah, the old testament prophet who was constantly warning of impending doom, aides were quick to fight back – until Bloomberg’s Rob Hutton pointed out that the part of the scripture that everyone forgets is that Jeremiah was right. A day later and Cable took to [...]
Small firms look to start hiring as tax cut nears September 16, 2013 MORE small companies intend to take on additional staff in the third quarter than at any time in the last three years, according to new research released today. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reveals that 15 per cent have increased staff numbers in this quarter, and have positive intentions for the near future. In [...]
Positive territory for US industry ahead of Fed decision on taper September 16, 2013 INDUSTRIAL production and a survey of factories announced yesterday saw some improvement in the US economy ahead of tomorrow’s decision on whether to trim the Fed’s QE programme. The New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index came in at 6.29, signalling slightly slower growth in September than in August. And industrial production across the US [...]
IMF approves next $113m aid loan to Cyprus September 16, 2013 CYPRUS yesterday passed its critical review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), allowing the finance body to give the stricken Mediterranean island the next tranche of its bailout loans. The Fund completed its first review, enabling it to disburse another $113m (£71m) of the programme. Overall the IMF’s bailout plan budgets for loans totalling $1.3bn [...]
Business facing billions in bills from pension sign-up scheme September 16, 2013 FIRMS in the UK are facing several thousand pounds of set-up fees each to get up to speed with the government’s pension auto-enrolment scheme, and billions of pounds in total. According to research released today by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), auto-enrolment is set to cost businesses £15.4bn in set-up costs, with [...]
Eurozone inflation slows down as summer comes to an end September 16, 2013 INFLATION dipped in the Eurozone in August, according to official statistics released yesterday, and remains well below the target of the European Central Bank (ECB). The euro area’s consumer price index (CPI) fell from 1.6 per cent to 1.3 per cent in comparison to the same month last year, with core inflation at only 1.1 [...]
Ryanair to expand at Stansted as airport agrees to lower its fees September 16, 2013 RYANAIR has called a truce with the new owner of Stansted after persuading the airport to cut its fees, in a deal the budget airline claims will create 7,000 jobs. The Irish carrier has agreed a 10-year growth deal with Manchester Airports Group, which bought Stansted in January, that will see its traffic through the [...]
Costa Concordia starts to return to an even keel in £500m project September 16, 2013 THE COSTA Concordia cruise liner was yesterday inched slowly off the rock shelf where it has been stuck for more than 20 months, in a painstaking process to right the ship that looked set to continue late into the night. After a three-hour delay caused by an overnight storm, salvage crews started the so-called parbuckling [...]
Cable giant in France lines up November float September 16, 2013 FRENCH cable operator Numericable is planning an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the firm at over €5bn (£4.2bn). The current owners – Cinven, Carlyle and Altice Group – are expected to ride the current wave of investor interest in European cable companies all the way to an IPO. Just last week Vodafone bought [...]