Commodity prices stabilise following two day rout December 9, 2015 The price of hard commodities plateaued yesterday, following a two day retreat that spooked investors and caused huge sell offs of oil and mining stocks. The oil price also managed to stabilise, hovering just above the $40 mark for most of the day, despite dipping below the line briefly for the second day. Oil did [...]
UK manufacturing in terminal decline as growth rate revised down through to 2017 December 9, 2015 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has downgraded its UK gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year to 2.4 per cent, from a previous prediction of 2.6 per cent. At the same time its scaled back expectations for the next to years with 2016 and 2017 now both forecast for 2.5 per cent [...]
Uber warns EU regulations are holding back Europe’s tech startups December 7, 2015 Cab hailing app Uber has warned European Union (EU) regulation could mean that technology startups from Europe are unable to compete internationally. Uber’s head of public policy in Europe Mark McGann slammed the EU digital single market and said: “I’m concerned about domestic companies in the UK and across Europe not being able to make [...]
Tyrie pushes for changes to inheritance tax relief reforms December 7, 2015 Proposals to extend inheritance tax relief for residential properties brought in by George Osborne this year have been criticised for being too complex. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has written to the chancellor asking him to rethink the proposals. He has suggested using the 2016 Finance Bill to clarify the changes, the first [...]
Uber support grows ahead of Transport for London consultation deadline December 7, 2015 Business lobby group The Institute of Directors (IoD) has weighed in on the proposals to curtail car hire app Uber, branding them “unfriendly to entrepreneurialism, innovation and fair competition”. Transport for London (TfL) has been seeking the views of organisations and individuals since September on whether it should bring in a raft of new rules [...]
Inflation and skills shortages on the rise for London construction companies December 6, 2015 A growing skills shortage is causing London’s largest building contractors to turn down one in every two bidding opportunities, new data has revealed. The survey from infrastructure and support services group AECOM estimates that construction costs have risen annually by 10 per cent during 2015, with predicted increases of seven per cent in 2016 before [...]
Big tobacco to fight in court against plain packaging December 6, 2015 Some of the world's biggest tobacco firms are going to court with the UK this week in a row over the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes. British American Tobacco (BAT), Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International have teamed up in the High Court to argue the plan to ban branding on [...]
Funding crisis puts 1,700 jobs at risk over Christmas at printer Polestar December 6, 2015 An emergency financial review at printer Polestar has reportedly found the firm could run out of money by Christmas. According to a Deloitte report seen by the Sunday Times accountants at Deloitte have warned the printer, which produces the Radio Times, Private Eye and Top Gear, will need to take on additional immediate funding. It’s being [...]
Investors pile on pressure over top HSBC pensions December 6, 2015 HSBC has made good the changes to executive pensions it promised in its last remuneration report, earlier this year. The bank will be cutting pension payments to its top executives from 1 January, bringing it in line with similar FTSE companies. The current arrangement means the banks chief executive, chairman, and two executive directors can [...]
IPO giant Worldpay will start to offer loans to small business using big data December 4, 2015 Worldpay, the card payments processor that recently picked up the crown for the biggest London IPO of the year with a value of £4.8bn, is expanding its US small and medium sized business lending into the UK. The division, known as Worldpay Business Finance, will use its extensive data on its customers to offer them [...]
