Hopes rise for black cab firm after new bid December 20, 2012 VOLVO Car Corporation’s owner Zhejiang Geely has entered the race to take over stricken UK black cab maker Manganese Bronze, after it emerged the Chinese company was in talks to buy the Coventry-based manufacturer. Manganese, which has been making the iconic black cabs through its London Taxi Company since 1948, fell into administration in October [...]
Fastjet’s Lenigas pays himself just £1 a year… plus expenses December 20, 2012 AIRLINE boss David Lenigas yesterday eschewed a traditional executive salary by agreeing to take home just £1 a year. Lenigas, chairman of low-cost African airline Fastjet, will take the tiny annual salary plus “legitimately invoiced” expenses. “I am passionate about the possibility of Fastjet’s ability to change Africa’s GDP growth profile,” the airline boss said [...]
Go-Ahead to pay £7m for delayed trains December 20, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT is forcing transport group Go-Ahead to compensate London Midland passengers for cancelled trains and delays to services last year in a package of benefits worth £7m. In compensation, London Midland season ticket holders will be given five days’ worth of free travel passes. A further 500,000 cheap advance tickets for passengers on routes [...]
Mood across the pond lifted by upwardly revised growth data December 20, 2012 THE US economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter of the year, official data showed yesterday. America’s GDP expanded at a 3.1 per cent annual rate in the three months to September, the Commerce Department said, a step up from the 2.7 per cent pace it reported last month. Exports and government [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence ends the year in the doldrums December 20, 2012 CONSUMER confidence in the Eurozone improved slightly in the final month of 2012, a prominent survey suggested yesterday, but remains considerably below its long run average. And a think tank focusing on European politics predicted a tough year ahead. “Next year is not only likely to see domestic politics across the EU clash with the [...]
London house prices up £28k through 2012 December 20, 2012 HOUSE prices across the UK crept up through 2012, according to data out yesterday from property website Zoopla, with London leaping further ahead. Mortgage lending increased again in November, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed, with the first signs that the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) may be having an effect. Home purchase loans [...]
Network Rail reveals that just seven in ten trains are on time December 20, 2012 FEWER than seven in ten trains were on time this year, according to Network Rail data out yesterday. New statistics show for the first time how many rail services make it to their stops early or within one minute of the operator’s schedule. Just 69.2 per cent of trains were this punctual in the year [...]
Gloomy start to Christmas as shoppers look out for bargains December 20, 2012 RETAIL sales are barely kept pace with inflation last month, according to official figures out yesterday, with squeezed consumers waiting for discounts rather than splashing out for Christmas. The quantity of goods bought in November rose 0.9 per cent on the year, while the amount spent increased 1.5 per cent, showing a small rise, the [...]
Japan’s new government gets cash boost from central bank December 20, 2012 THE BANK of Japan delivered its third shot of monetary stimulus in four months yesterday, in a prelude to more aggressive action next year as it faces intensifying pressure from the country’s next leader for bolder action to beat deflation. It also signalled setting a higher inflation target at its next meeting in January, when [...]
Mothercare pay irks investors December 20, 2012 Mothercare endured a minor shareholder mutiny yesterday as 12.8 per cent of investors voted against the retailer’s plans to set up a long-term incentive scheme for its new chief executive. On top of a basic salary of £500,000 new boss Simon Calver could earn up to £6.3m from long-term incentives. He must break even in [...]