Boom in the City as professional services output increases quickly May 28, 2015 Business services firms are seeing a boom on a scale not experienced for almost a decade, with sales volumes rocketing and hiring up, according to a study today from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Profits are picking up sharply at accountancy, law and marketing firms, with 39 per cent of business and professional services companies [...]
What was in the 2015 Queen’s Speech, bill-by-bill May 28, 2015 A full employment and welfare benefits bill aiming to create 2m more jobs and 3m more apprenticeships An enterprise bill to cut red tape and help small and medium-sized businesses resolve late payment disputes A personal tax allowance bill raising the personal allowance to £12,500 and linking future increases to the minimum wage A finance bill [...]
Reforming UK executive pay is tortuous, but worthwhile May 27, 2015 Like electing a boss of Fifa whose surname isn’t Blatter or extracting an apology from Thomas Cook, reforming executive pay in the UK is a tortuous process. Vince Cable, the last Business Secretary, had a decent stab at it, introducing a binding vote on pay policies which yielded initial dividends in recalcitrant boardrooms. [...]
Disposable incomes in London lead UK despite financial crash May 27, 2015 London’s disposable incomes are highest at £22,516 on average Disposable incomes in London pulled further ahead of those in the rest of the country over the past 15 years, official figures showed yesterday, despite the capital being the epicentre of the financial crisis. Spending power across the UK has grown enormously since 1997, with [...]
Prudential says men can expect to earn their first million by 50 – 19 years before female colleagues May 27, 2015 A man on average income will earn his first million nearly two decades before an average female worker, according to new analysis from Prudential out today. The insurance company crunched the numbers from the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey of hours and earnings, finding that male workers earn £1m by the time they [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Let’s hope the Tories are saving the radicalism for the Budget May 27, 2015 We were told we’d never see such a sight again. Majorities were a thing of the past, they said, and coalition politics was here to stay. And yet there it was yesterday – resplendent in all the finery and pageantry that the British state can muster – a legislative programme for a majority Tory government. [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Here’s everything that was said about the EU referendum, employment, tax, the Human Rights Act and Scottish devolution May 27, 2015 The EU referendum is on; taxes will be locked in at current levels and strike laws are being reformed. The Queen's Speech has come to an end, and we have been presented with the legislation the government intends to pursue over the coming parliamentary session. While global cooperation, reducing the deficit and sticking to the [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Business community and others react to announcements on immigration, housing, employment, tax, Scotland and English devolution May 27, 2015 The Queen's Speech – the first full-Tory state opening of Parliament since 1996 – has come and gone. But what is the business community making of it all? Here are the best reactions so far. On the tax lock: Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants says: “This is a [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Everything we know so far including the EU referendum, devolution, Human Rights Act, income tax, housing and Scotland May 26, 2015 The Queen's Speech will unveil the Conservative government's policy agenda on Wednesday and having shed its coalition partner at the General Election, some pretty major shifts in policy are expected. Here are some of the top pledges expected to feature in the state opening of parliament tomorrow. EU referendum bill Having committed to holding an [...]
Financial hiring rebounds after election result as job vacancies in Glasgow and Edinburgh surge 21 per cent following independence vote May 25, 2015 Hiring in the City dipped in the run-up to the General Election, but has rebounded on the Conservatives’ victory, recruitment firm Venn Group said today. Advertised vacancies fell by 10 per cent in April, on fears that a Labour win could have led to higher taxes and more red tape. The surge in vacancies since [...]