Draghi says Euro area economic recovery “gaining momentum” March 23, 2015 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi issued a bright outlook for the Eurozone economy, saying that it would benefit from low oil prices, a hefty stimulus package and favourable exchange rate movements. "The basis for the economic recovery in the euro area has clearly strengthened," he said in a speech to the European Parliament. [...]
Rangers end Mike Ashley loan agreement but take £1.5m from Three Bears consortium March 23, 2015 Cash-strapped Rangers will receive a boost after Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor agreed to provide £1.5m loans to the football club. The loans from the group known as the "Three Bears consortium" are being made available until 31 December 2015 for working capital requirements and will be provided on an unsecured basis, meaning [...]
Busk in London: Mayor Boris Johnson unveils plans to make London “busking capital of the world” – including National Busking Day March 23, 2015 Ditch the headphones and start tuning into the real-live music on London's streets. The capital is about to become a whole lot more musical. Mayor Boris Johnson has launched a new scheme to make it easier for people to busk in the capital alongside a busking “code of conduct”. The Busk in London scheme, [...]
Greek crisis: European markets dip ahead of meeting between Alexis Tsipras and Angela Merkel March 23, 2015 Germany's Dax lead European markets down, falling 0.93 per cent as Chancellor Angela Merkel prepared to thrash out a deal with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras this afternoon. France's Cac 40 fell 0.56 per cent, while the FTSE 100 – which on Friday hit 7,000 points for the first time – fell back 0.27 per [...]
Tensions high as Greek PM flies to Germany for talks with Merkel March 23, 2015 GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will make his first official visit to Germany today to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel amid mounting tension between the two countries over Germany’s hardline stance to Greece’s debt crisis. At last week’s EU summit, Greece promised to meet creditors’ demands to present an economic reform package to unlock the cash [...]
Startup-friendly? What George Osborne’s Budget means for entrepreneurs March 22, 2015 Small businesses favour certainty over circus tricks, and the announcements made in last week’s Budget have received a generally positive response from entrepreneurs that I have spoken to – especially in the context of a growing economy. FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR Many will be happy that Entrepreneur’s Relief remained largely unchanged, providing a 10 per cent [...]
Christine Lagarde: IMF would be “delighted” to work with China-led AIIB March 22, 2015 China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has hoovered up yet more support, after the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Christine Lagarde said there was “massive” room for cooperation between the two. Managing director Lagarde told a conference in Beijing the IMF would be “delighted” to work with the AIIB on infrastructure financing, according to Reuters. [...]
Budget 2015: Gordon Brown beats George Osborne on job approval rating March 20, 2015 Now the dust has settled; the pollsters are digesting the public's reaction to Osborne's Budget and how they rate the chancellor. The good news for Osborne is that YouGov found for the first time since 2010 that more people approve if his job performance than disapprove. However, the chancellor of five years still failed to [...]
General Election 2015 boost for Osborne as government on track to meet borrowing targets after bumper month of tax reciepts March 20, 2015 George Osborne is on schedule to meet his full year target for cutting the budget deficit, after a raft of self-assessment tax returns made February’s deficit the smallest since 2008. The deficit last month was £57.5bn, compared to £68.3bn last February and a peak of £95.2bn in 2009. In February 2008 it was £38.5bn. The [...]
Richard Branson might jump on the electric car bandwagon March 20, 2015 Richard Branson has hinted that his Virgin brand might jump on the electric car bandwagon (the wagon bandwagon?) at some point in the not-too-distant future. The entrepreneur already has his own Formula E team – an electric version of Formula One which features battery-powered cars racing at speeds of up to 140 mph. But when [...]