Business services may drive economic growth December 19, 2011 RAPID growth in the business services sector offers hope for the UK’s economic recovery, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) argued yesterday – but the think-tank also warned a Eurozone recession could cost the UK 70,000 jobs in the industry. Business outsourcing is forecast to help IT services to grow by 13.6 per [...]
UK is the fifth most charitable nation globally December 19, 2011 THE UK is the fifth most charitable nation in the world according to the Charities Aid Foundation. The World Giving Index, topped by the USA, shows that the world has become more charitable in the last year. The UK is the second most generous nation in monetary terms, with 79 per cent of Brits donating [...]
NEW CIVIL SERVICE BOSS December 19, 2011 INCOMING civil service boss Sir Bob Kerslake faced a grilling from MPs on the Public Affairs Select Committee yesterday. He sees himself as a “champion of change” and told the committee he would “provide visible leadership” for the civil service. Kerslake takes up the role on 1 January.
Poor pay largest share in duty December 19, 2011 Low-income households have paid a greater share of their income in tax on tobacco and alcohol than any other group in every year from 1997 to 2010, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The bottom fifth spent 1.6 per cent of their disposable incomes on alcohol duties and three per cent on [...]
Pension opt-out cuts pot by fifth December 19, 2011 The average working man will cut his pension pot by £19,000, or 20 per cent, if he opts out of the incoming auto-enrolment pensions scheme for the first ten years of his working life, Prudential warned yesterday. However, the worker would be better off by £620 per year in terms of disposable income. “For some [...]
279,000 on dole for over a year December 19, 2011 Over a quarter of a million people are spending a second Christmas on jobseekers’ allowance, according to a TUC study out today. The number of long-term unemployed has doubled from 122,000 in 2007 to 279,000 today, and up 35,000 on December last year.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 19, 2011 Standard Life Charles Guay has been appointed as president and chief executive of Standard Life Canada. He will start on 1 February 2012 to replace Joseph Iannicelli, and is joining from National Bank of Canada, where he is senior vice president, strategies, marketing and investment solutions, wealth management. He additionally holds the role of president [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 19, 2011 3i INFRASTRUCTURE JP Morgan Cazenove rates the infrastructure investment company as “overweight”, following a deal announced yesterday that will reduce its cash balances but enhance its dividend yield. The broker says the acquisition of Networks Finland is a core infrastructure deal that differentiates the company from other PFI-focus peers, and one that could offer the [...]
Banks hit by Vickers as North Korean leader dies December 19, 2011 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning but the festering Eurozone crisis continued to sap confidence in riskier assets and banks were down as the government confirmed that they would be hit with the full impact of the Vickers Report. But the agenda was dominated by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sparking [...]
Ocado issues profit warning December 19, 2011 British online grocer Ocado said its full-year earnings were on track to rise by at least a quarter after an easing of supply bottlenecks at its main distribution centre helped weekly deliveries hit a new record. But Ocado, which mostly sells the products of high-end supermarket chain Waitrose, said underlying earnings for the year to [...]