Pension Insurance Corporation will launch a £250m corporate bond to fund a raft of new business November 17, 2016 A wave of Britain's largest firms are planning to offload huge pension liabilities to a key market player. The Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), a company that specialises in taking pension headaches away from businesses, will today launch a £250m investment bond to fund a bottleneck of deals in late 2016 and early 2017. Sources close to the [...]
The number of new affordable homes in England more than halved last year November 17, 2016 The number of new affordable homes in England fell by more than half last year, new figures have suggested. Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed the number of new affordable homes built in 2015-2016 fell to 32,110, down from 66,600 the year before. The figures, which take in newly-built affordable homes [...]
Toyota revs up electric car credentials with new in-house company November 17, 2016 Toyota is revving up its electric car credentials with the creation of an in-house venture company responsible for developing electric vehicles (EVs). It will be a virtual organisation, made up of four people: one from each of Toyota Industries Corporation, Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd., Denso Corporation and TMC. The body will be independent from other [...]
Cafe culture nudges Eurozone inflation higher in October November 17, 2016 Eurozone annual inflation rose to 0.5 per cent in October, driven by contributions from spending in restaurants and cafes. Up by 0.1 per cent compared with September, six of the member states recorded annual rates below zero – better known as deflation. Inflation rose in 21 EU states, which was enough to raise inflation across the region [...]
1 to Watch: snap40 to accelerate growth after securing one of the largest seed funding rounds ever in Scotland November 17, 2016 | City Talk Edinburgh-based health technology start-up snap40 recently received £2m in seed funding from investment firm Par Equity. Innovative healthtech snap40 catch deteriorating health sooner by automatically detecting the warning signs. They have developed a single wearable health monitor that’s worn on the upper arm and which continuously monitors patient health across many different indicators – things [...]
Mortgage lending falls more than £1bn in October November 17, 2016 Mortgage lending in the UK dipped by £1.2bn in October compared with the previous year, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). But despite the five per cent year-on-year decline, the figures were slightly above the trend for the last six months, in which mortgage lending averaged £20.1bn. They held on to post [...]
Britain’s used car sales motor to record levels as 2.1m vehicles changed hands from July to September November 17, 2016 Forget the very aesthetically appealing model debuts being wheeled out at the LA motor show, Brits are still feeling the love for used cars. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), growth in the used car market continued in the third quarter of this year, with buyers snapping up a record 2.1m vehicles, [...]
Retail sales defied expectations amid Brexit fears in October as prices fell everywhere except petrol stations November 17, 2016 UK retail sales grew at their highest rate since April 2002, amid fears that spending could be hampered by uncertainty around Brexit. The volume of retail sales increased by 7.3 per cent in October, compared to the same month in 2015, while the amount spend rose 6.6 per cent on an annual basis, according to [...]
Weak sterling will push up the price of wine and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, Majestic’s chief executive has warned November 17, 2016 First it came for our Marmite. Then it came for our Toblerones. Now, weak sterling is pushing up the price of wine, the chief executive of one of the UK's largest booze retailers has warned. Rowan Gormley, the boss of Majestic Wine, said consumers can expect wine everywhere to go up in price – "until we grow [...]