Millions set for pay rise as tax thresholds and minimum wages increase April 6, 2019 More than two million people are set for a pay rise as the national living wage and minimum wage thresholds increase, the Treasury has claimed. The national living wage is increasing from £7.83 to £8.21, which equates to around £690 per year and will affect 1.8m people. Read more: Osborne tax breaks for multinational firms [...]
Revealed: The best places to watch the 2019 Boat Race April 5, 2019 The annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge will take place this Sunday in southwest London. The race, which has been held annually since 1856 excluding the war years, is expected to draw a crowd of at least 250,000 people. The women's race will start at 2:13pm and the men's race will start at 3:10pm, [...]
Union threatens total Tube shutdown in Transport for London pay dispute April 5, 2019 Commuters are facing the threat of a shutdown across the entire London Underground network as a pay clash between a union and Transport for London approaches boiling point. The Rail and Maritime Trade Union (RMT) said today it will ballot all of its members working on the Tube for potential strike action as talks with TfL [...]
The current Brexit approach guarantees failure – when will the no-dealers wake up? April 5, 2019 The Brexit process resembles a slow motion car crash. But of all the many twists and turns that we have had to endure in recent weeks, perhaps the most torturous has been the path trodden by the most committed proponents of the UK’s exit from the EU: the so-called “no-dealers”. Having once been the shock [...]
The burden of business rates falls unfairly on the West End April 4, 2019 This week, UK retailers received one of their biggest tax bills of the year. The consequences of the 2017 revaluation of business rates will again be felt, with a further hike of nearly 50 per cent for some companies. Retailers in London’s West End and Mayfair will once again be hardest hit, paying the lion’s [...]
Sleet hits London as Met Office warns rush hour commuters to expect snow April 3, 2019 Sleet hit London this afternoon as temperatures plunged to as low as 3C amid warnings of snow later this week. Read more: London weather warms up as spring banishes winter The City of London experienced chilly sleet and rain, while the Met Office told Londoners to expect cold weather and rain for the rest of [...]
MPs cast doubt over Crossrail 2020 opening aim as they warn Elizabeth Line may need more than £2.8bn bailout April 3, 2019 MPs are “not convinced” that Crossrail will open in 2020 and fear the project will need more than the extra £2.8bn in funding it received to stay afloat, according to a damning report released today. Spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the costs of the railway, also known as the Elizabeth Line, had [...]
Labour’s nationalisation plans are a risk to London’s investment appeal April 2, 2019 Despite seemingly unending turbulence on Brexit, the UK, and London in particular, remains a very attractive place to do business. Our level of foreign direct investment (FDI) is at record levels, and London continues to outrank all other metropolitan areas across the globe in terms of the number of projects. Since the 1990s, the capital [...]
City watchdog calls for review of its regulation of collapsed mini-bond firm London Capital & Finance April 1, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today there should be an independent investigation into its regulation of mini-bond firm London Capital & Finance (LC&F). The company collapsed in January owing investors more than £230m. The watchdog also called for an investigation to look at whether the existing regulatory system adequately protects retail purchasers of mini-bonds from [...]
No-deal Brexit now ‘a likely scenario’, says European Commission March 29, 2019 Following the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for the third time, the European Commission has said that a no-deal Brexit is now 'a likely scenario'. The Commission said in a statement that it regrets the vote and said: "The EU has been preparing for this since December 2017 and is now fully prepared for a [...]