Northern SMEs call for digital investments, as poll shows doubt over the scheme February 2, 2016 Investment in digital infrastructure has been found to be as important to small businesses in the north of England as transport between cities. A desire for increased digital infrastructure spending tied with inter-city transport for the second most wanted investment, supported by 37 per cent, behind increased local control over public spending with 40 per cent. [...]
Concerns rise over break in performance related pay for bankers, as firms stuggle to balance risk and rewards February 1, 2016 Financial services firms around the world have continue to wean staff off bonuses and onto fixed salaries throughout 2015, raising concerns banks are unable to properly penalise misconduct. The report, by consultancy Mercer, found that the financial industry is struggling to balance rewards for taking positive risks with sanctions against rule breaking. Dirk Vink, a [...]
Smith and Nephew announces chief executive cancer diagnosis February 1, 2016 Smith & Nephew, the orthopaedics giant that’s Europe's biggest maker of artificial hips and knees, has announced today its chief executive Olivier Bohuon has been diagnosed with cancer. Bohuon will remain in his role during his treatment period, beginning later this month. The company described the form of cancer as “highly treatable”, and said Bohuon [...]
IPO market set to fall this year after 2015 highs February 1, 2016 The London initial public offering (IPO) market hit a high unlikely to be repeated in 2016, research from accountancy giant PwC shows. Ongoing market volatility, concerns over global growth, and a worsening oil price rout mean that more companies are expected to postpone or call off planned IPOs. Vivienne Maclachlan, capital markets director at PwC, [...]
UK aerospace industry goes stratospheric February 1, 2016 The aerospace industry has increased in value by £3bn in 2015, with a new aircraft ordered on average every four hours and delivered every 6.5 hours globally, according to data from aerospace trade body ADS Group. Production of commercial aircraft in the country is up almost 50 per cent since 2009, as the government faces calls [...]
Private jet membership set to take off in 2016 January 31, 2016 Private jet usage is set to take off in London, following the roll out of membership schemes that allow people to make use of jets without owning them. A survey carried out by industry magazine Corporate Jet Investor found that nearly one in four (23 per cent) said that the growth of membership schemes and online [...]
Oil industry body pushing for tax cuts for the North Sea ahead of Budget in March January 31, 2016 An oil and gas industry body is ramping up its fight against taxes on the struggling North Sea oil industry ahead of the Treasury’s March Budget. Oil &Gas UK (OGUK) will petition the Treasury to ease taxes on the industry as the North Sea reels from 70 per cent drop in the oil price in [...]
Bank shares overvalued as Eurozone leans on Germany and France struggles January 28, 2016 Most European bank shares are overvalued, according to more than half (54 per cent) of UK fund managers polled by accountancy giant EY. German banks managed to buck the trend however, with two-thirds of managers polled believing them to have the best growth prospects in Europe. On top of that, 80 per cent rated the [...]
US Fed leaves interest rate on hold amid global market volatility January 27, 2016 The US Federal Reserve has voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent, following the first rate rise for almost a decade in December. All but one member voted to leave the benchmark rate that banks offer to lend to each other overnight, known as the Federal Funds rate, between 0.25 per cent [...]
Netflix down in parts of the UK, Europe and the US January 27, 2016 Online TV and film streaming service Netflix is being reported as offline around parts of the UK and Europe. The service is also unavailable in parts of the US. Users have taken to social media to report outages, with the site status checker Down Detector recording problems centred in Northern Europe. Last week a global outage of social [...]
