UK confidence at rock bottom May 30, 2012 FEARS that the economy is worsening has kept consumer confidence at extreme low levels, according to the Gfk confidence index published today, making consumers increasingly unlikely to commit to making major purchases. The overall confidence index improved slightly, up from minus 31 in April to minus 29 in May, but the general economic situation index [...]
US home sales in surprise drop May 30, 2012 Contracts to purchase previously owned US homes unexpectedly fell in April to their lowest level since December, industry data showed yesterday. The National Association of Realtors’ pending sales index fell 5.5 per cent in April to 95.5. Despite the housing market being the US economy’s weakest link, economists expect the sector to add value to [...]
Spencer Dale: No more QE needed May 30, 2012 More asset purchases by the Bank of England may not be warranted even if Britain’s economy continues to struggle, and the Bank should keep its focus on bringing down inflation, its chief economist said yesterday. Spencer Dale said the £325bn of quantitative easing (QE) to date had helped cushion the economy against the impact of [...]
Cape appoints new leader as woes increase May 30, 2012 CAPE yesterday named a new chief executive, filling a post that has been vacant since March, in a move that comes less than a week after a shock profit warning from the resources industry services provider. The company said Joe Oatley, former chief executive of British engineering company Hamworthy, will take over as chief executive [...]
Capita in £20m deal for health tech business May 30, 2012 OUTSOURCING group Capita has sealed another small takeover deal with the acquisition of healthcare technology firm Clinical Solutions. It bought Clinical from a private equity consortium led by Bridgepoint for £20m on a cash free and debt free basis. Clinical, which has offices in Britain, the US, India and Australia, provides patient management software and technology [...]
AMAZON’S LOVEFILM GETS UNIVERSAL MOVIES May 30, 2012 LOVEFILM, the movie on demand service owned by Amazon, yesterday announced a partnership with film giant Universal. Lovefilm subscribers will be able to stream the latest Universal releases, including Snow White and the Huntsman (pictured above), via a range of devices including computers, tablets and games consoles.
Negotiate your future with your job contract May 30, 2012 NEGOTIATING an employment contract, whether you’re about to start a new role or renegotiating an existing package, can be a daunting prospect. Receiving a job offer brings mixed feelings for most people, as many agonise over the terms of the offer and whether to take the plunge into negotiating a better deal. Others are so [...]
CASE STUDY WUNDERMAN MARKETING AGENCY – BRENDAN TANSEY, CEO May 30, 2012 At Wunderman we have been using the cloud for all of our email services since June last year. We were one of the first marketing agency of any size to embrace cloud services for email and our 340 staff in the UK migrated all email services to cloud technology. The move has allowed us to [...]
RBS calls for more freedom for turnaround plan May 30, 2012 Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive needs to be given the freedom to complete his five-year turnaround plan without excessive interference, the part-nationalised UK bank’s chairman said. “There are … still risks on the horizon and the task of rebuilding RBS has some way to go,” Philip Hampton said on Wednesday at the bank’s annual [...]
FTSE lurches towards worst month since August May 30, 2012 The FTSE 100 dipped this morning as the Eurozone’s debt woes continued to cast a shadow and hopes that China would trigger further fiscal stimulus were dealt a blow. Investors are awaiting the European Commission’s economic strategy on how austerity measures can be introduced without quashing the growth required for recovery. Concerns about Spain’s ability [...]