Euro Zone growth slows more than expected January 7, 2011 Euro zone economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter against the previous three months, revised data from the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat showed. Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 16 countries using the euro grew 0.3 per cent in the third quarter against the April-June period, rather than 0.4 percent [...]
New car sales up 2 per cent in 2010 January 7, 2011 New car sales rose almost two per cent over the course of 2010, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said, but it warned the coming year would be tough. The SMMT said new car registrations rose by almost 36,000 to total 2.03m last year, ending 1.8 per cent up on 2009 figures. The fleet [...]
Robert Walters sees fees soar with China boost January 7, 2011 WHITE-COLLAR recruitment firm Robert Walters said net fees for the year grew by nearly half, bolstered by growth in China and strong levels of activity across its markets which the company expects to continue. The white-collar recruiter said that group net fee income, also known as gross profit, rose 49 per cent to £155.3m from [...]
OFT to probe Thomas Cook and Co-op merger January 7, 2011 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to probe a move by Thomas Cook and the Co-operative Group to merge their High Street travel businesses. The European Commission had studied the deal but decided the OFT was better placed to investigate because the merger would only affect UK business. Thomas Cook said it would “continue [...]
CSC revises bid for Trafford Centre January 7, 2011 Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) has announced new terms for its proposed acquisition of Manchester’s Trafford Centre from Peel Group. CSC said the shares for The Trafford Centre will be issued at 400p rather than the 368p originally agreed. The number of shares Peel will receive has been cut to 205.9m, from 224.1m as a result [...]
EasyJet passenger numbers climb January 7, 2011 EasyJet’a passenger traffic numbers rose 7.6 per cent from a year earlier in December, following a similar rise in numbers at rival budget airline Ryanair. EasyJet said it carried 3,657,186 last month, while its load factor – which measures the amount of seats filled on a plane – rose by 0.4 percentage points from last [...]
SLAP IN THE FACE January 6, 2011 Cameron excludes City from list of growth industries in keynote speech on economy DAVID Cameron delivered a remarkable snub to the City yesterday, after he excluded it from a list of Britain’s “high growth” industries. In a speech outlining where he expects growth to come from in the coming years, the Prime Minister said that [...]
Slap in the face January 6, 2011 DAVID Cameron delivered a remarkable snub to the City yesterday, after he excluded it from a list of Britain’s “high growth” industries. In a speech outlining where he expects growth to come from in the coming years, the Prime Minister said that tourism, green energy, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and aerospace were the five “industries of [...]
Cost of snow hitting home January 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S economy took a hammering from the winter freeze, with the service sector contracting in December and retailers being hit, it was revealed yesterday. The country’s largest sector experienced its first decline for 20 months, stalling the recovery. The business activity index, compiled by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), dropped [...]
Gimmicks and spin won’t rescue UK January 6, 2011 THERE is much that this government is doing that is good for growth. Its determination to cut public spending is the only reason we haven’t gone the way of Greece. Reducing corporation tax to 24 per cent is an excellent idea. The coalition’s Entrepreneurs Visa is a good thing – but its effect is partly [...]