Boots cuts 220 photo labs putting 400 jobs at risk March 1, 2017 Boots has announced it is closing 220 of its photo labs across the UK, including five in London, as weak demand for photo film services finally takes its toll. The closure of the in-store labs will put 400 jobs at risk, although a Boots spokesperson said the company would try to offer retraining and opportunities [...]
The House of Lords amended Theresa May’s Article 50 Bill to protect EU nationals March 1, 2017 The House of Lords has handed Prime Minister Theresa May's government its first defeat on the road to Brexit, amending the Article 50 Bill to include a unilateral guarantee of the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK. Peers voted 358 to 256 in favour of a change to the Bill, which passed through [...]
Immigrants add £83bn of economic value to London March 1, 2017 Migrant workers in London with full time jobs each contribute an additional £46,000 net in gross value added (GVA) per year to the economy, research by PwC and London First reveals. A combined total of £83bn for all of London’s 1.8m migrant workers is added, making up approximately 22 per cent of the capital’s GVA. [...]
Man Group reports losses and lower performance fees March 1, 2017 Hedge fund Man Group disappointed investors with pre-tax losses of $272m for 2016 this morning, largely driven by accounting write downs at the company’s discretionary investments arm, GLG, and at FRM, Man’s fund of funds business. Performance fee revenues were down to $81m, compared to $302m in 2015, with declines across all divisions. The FTSE [...]
Chancellor is “personally committed” to finding a solution after insurers call for discount rate law change this year March 1, 2017 Insurance leaders called on the government to set a new discount rate this year in an attempt to mitigate the catastrophic effects of its decision to cut the rate on Monday. Justice secretary Liz Truss surprised insurers by cutting the personal injury discount rate, which takes into account the long-term cost of care and loss of [...]
Bank of England Brexit rate cut had little effect on UK’s surprise growth says former deputy governor March 1, 2017 The Bank of England’s (BoE) actions to cut interest rates after the referendum had little effect on the UK's powerful economic growth, according to its former deputy governor. Sir Charlie Bean said: “It may have some small effect at the margin but I really don’t take the view that the policy package that was announced [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker unveils five options for EU after divorce from UK, including suggesting the bloc might scale back to just the Single Market March 1, 2017 Jean-Claude Juncker has today suggested the EU might have scale back until it is essentially just the Single Market by 2025, as member states increasingly fail to find common ground on important policy issues. The suggestion was one of five possible scenarios put forward by the European Commission president for the future of the EU, published as [...]
These are the five hottest new phones from MWC 2017 March 1, 2017 Nokia 3310 Around £40 nokia.com This unexpected reboot of Nokia’s iconic late 90s handset blew the minds of every 30-something year old at MWC. Made by HMD (the Finnish startup that bought the rights to the Nokia name) this homage to the 3310 roughly mimics the original design while making a few concessions to modernisation. [...]
Bunzl agrees $160m deal to buy not-for-resale US competitor March 1, 2017 Support services giant Bunzl has snapped up a US competitor labelled a "mini-Bunzl" in a deal understood to be worth around $160m (£129m). Diversified Distribution Systems (DDS), a distributor of not-for-resale items to retailers and other general distribution customers, primarily in North America, is a large purchase for the acquisitive Bunzl, which splashed out £184m during 2016. Analysts [...]
Premier Oil shares fall as it takes the next step in its long-awaited financial restructuring March 1, 2017 North Sea-focused Premier Oil has taken a step forward on its long drawn-out refinancing programme as it today announced convertible bondholders came to an agreement with the firm's amended terms. The new terms to its $245m (£199m) convertible bonds were approved by an ad hoc committee representing 47 per cent of its convertible bondholders. Premier said it will look to implement [...]