A former City headhunter is transforming a sleepy French jam-making operation into a multi million pound business March 1, 2017 A former City headhunter is transforming a sleepy French jam-making operation into a multi million pound business supplying jams and condiments to Luxury hotels around the world. Eli Gifford, 34, once placed workers in London's distressed debt hedge fund industry for Morgan Hunt. Now he has doubled the size of a small Jam-making operation in [...]
UK house prices rose by just £600 last month March 1, 2017 UK house price growth was flatter than yesterday's pancakes in February, with prices inching up just 0.6 per cent between January and February. That works out at an average of £600. Figures published by Nationwide showed prices grew 4.5 per cent in the year to February, up very slightly from January's 4.3 per cent. The [...]
Ofcom will leave current postal rules in place for five years after Royal Mail performance improves March 1, 2017 Communications regulator Ofcom has said it will leave current postal rules in place for five years after concluding a review of Royal Mail regulation, saying it had made progress. The regulator said the service had been under "significant pressure" incurring a loss of more than £100m in 2011 as people continued to send fewer letters, but [...]
President Trump promises “new chapter of American greatness” in first speech to Congress March 1, 2017 President Donald Trump promised a "new chapter of American greatness" in his first speech to Congress, though he's still yet to provide detail on his plans. The President said the US was witnessing a "renewal of the American spirit" and that "our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead". Read more: Migrants [...]
ITV profits rise – but ad sales fall in “uncertain” market March 1, 2017 Pre-tax profits at ITV rose in the year to the end of December, it said today – but ad sales dipped three per cent, partly thanks to uncertainty. The figures Anyone worrying about the fate of ITV in a post-Downton Abbey era needn't have bothered. The company said total revenue rose three per cent to £3.1bn, while pre-tax [...]
Waterstones reads between the lines to go local as unbranded stores put it in the bad books March 1, 2017 Earlier this week, it was revealed that bookselling giant Waterstones has opened three small unbranded stores in locations across England. Some have argued that in opening shops purporting to be “independent” without notifying consumers of the real owners Waterstones has been underhand. Others have stressed that any effort that pushes books – while filling empty [...]
Consumer goods group Ultimate Products heads for a £100m-plus IPO in the next few days March 1, 2017 Ultimate Products, the innovative consumer goods group, is set for a £100m-plus IPO in London within days. It will list on the main market under the name of UP Global Sourcing Holdings. The IPO’s pricing could take place as early as today. The placing is understood to be substantially oversubscribed with investors taking part believed [...]
Higher oil prices alone won’t rescue failing petro-states like Venezuela March 1, 2017 At the annual International Petroleum Week at Grosvenor House on Park Lane last week, all eyes were on Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, the Qatari energy minister. The dignitary was honoured with a special award, “International Oil Diplomacy Man of the Year 2016”, as one of the masterminds behind the production cuts agreed to last November [...]
It’s pure rubbish to claim a low tax, low regulation Britain would be a disaster March 1, 2017 Dame Minouche Shafik, deputy governor of the Bank of England, is leaving to become director of the London School of Economics. Last weekend, she gave her final interview wearing her Bank hat. Shafik issued what was described in the media as a “thinly-veiled warning” to the chancellor Philip Hammond. She stated that it was an [...]
Don’t fear a jobs apocalypse: The UK economy is already adapting well to automation March 1, 2017 The Hollywood vision of a jobless, authoritarian future has the super-rich minority living forever and the rest of the population in dangerous poverty, not able to do anything of interest or value. Possibly in response to this, we regularly hear scare stories from some politicians (for example Nick Clegg in the Evening Standard earlier this [...]