Audit watchdog to cut fees after making savings March 4, 2012 THE spending watchdog for England’s local authorities has said today it will cut audit fees by 40 per cent. The Audit Commission, which will be abolished this year, said outsourcing and internal cost-savings meant audit fees for most local public bodies will fall by £250m over five years. The savings will come in part from [...]
PIPPA COMPLETES CHARITY SKI MARATHON March 4, 2012 PIPPA Middleton, the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, yesterday completed the annual Vasaloppet cross country ski race in Sweden – clocking up a time of seven hours, 13 minutes and 36 seconds on the 56-mile course. Middleton and her brother James were raising money for Magic Breakfast, a charity that delivers free breakfasts to [...]
BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR PROPERTY’S EPIC CYCLE March 4, 2012 AS MEMBERS of the property world flock into Cannes today for a week of networking at the industry’s MIPIM conference, 86 of their peers are taking a slower route through the French countryside by taking part in the six-day Aedas Cycle to Cannes charity ride. Executives from firms including Land Securities, Capital and Counties, and [...]
WHERE IS BARNABUS? WIN tickets to the Gaucho International Polo March 4, 2012 The Gaucho International Polo (www.gauchopolo.com) will take place on 21 March and will be a unique event which will bring an Argentine festival to London, uniting high-octane polo interspersed with the music of one of Latin America’s most acclaimed bands, Bajafondo, a tasting of the country’s finest wines and a glamorous afterparty. Every day this [...]
Boris: Britain must resist EU red tape March 4, 2012 BORIS Johnson has called on the government to boost transport spending, launch a crackdown on people dodging stamp duty and for Britain to pay less attention to EU rules. The London Mayor said economic growth “revolves around” improving the transport system, despite the pressure on public spending, and called on the Treasury to tackle the [...]
Regulations cost us $28bn – HSBC chief March 4, 2012 THE chief executive of HSBC has attacked Britain’s red tape culture and claimed it has knocked up to $28bn (£17.68bn) from the value of the bank. Stuart Gulliver (pictured) said HSBC is “permanently” under-valued and admitted he has raised his concern over the cost of the banking levy with the Treasury. His comments came just [...]
Co-op addresses governance issues in FSA talks over Lloyds branches March 4, 2012 THE Co-op yesterday said that its talks with Lloyds Bank over the purchase of 630 branches were going according to plan, though sources said it might strengthen its board in order to satisfy regulators. The mutual, which is in exclusive talks with Lloyds, said last night: “As part of a thorough due diligence process we [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 4, 2012 RSA Citi rates the insurance group “neutral” and has trimmed its target price by 2p to 113p following the firm’s results last Thursday. The broker remains cautious about the firm, despite some positive action from management, thanks to a continued fall in reserve releases and low interest rates dampening investment yields. XCHANGING JP Morgan rates [...]
Online boosts February’s sales March 4, 2012 Traditionally the toughest month of the retail calendar, February shone brighter than expected this year boosted by a 27.9 per cent increase in online sales. The BDO High Street Sales Tracker, which analyses like-for-like spending at non-grocery retailers, also saw non-fashion sales grow by two per cent thanks to Valentines Day shoppers. But overall sales [...]
Entrepreneur loans for students March 4, 2012 The government is set to boost the next generation of entrepreneurs by offering Dragons’ Den-style loans to school-leavers. George Osborne is expected to include the plan in the Budget later this month. Under the scheme the money would be allocated by experienced entrepreneurs to people with a coherent business plan. They would only begin to [...]