David Lammy: Sadiq Khan was wrong to rule out expansion at Heathrow – the decision must be based on what’s right for London June 19, 2015 Extending London’s airport capacity will be a key issue for the next mayor. It is not something that we can afford to keep pushing into the long grass. Already London business is missing out: last year, Germany overtook the UK for new investments – disappointing, but hardly surprising considering it has significantly more connections [...]
Neil Woodford: One year after leaving Invesco, star fund manager reviews his stock picks June 19, 2015 It’s not just Aim that is celebrating a birthday. Star fund manager Neil Woodford is celebrating one year since he left Invesco and set up Woodford Investment Management and the Woodford Equity Income fund. The fund is easily outperforming its sector, up 16.5 per cent for the year, compared with an increase of 7.8 per cent. [...]
London’s black cabs could be made to offer contactless payments June 19, 2015 Black cabs could be legally obliged to accept contactless credit cards, as a new set of proposals are opened up to consultation. Transport for London has put forward the idea – that contactless payments be accepted in all London taxis – as part of a move to modernise the industry and make it easier [...]
Should we train our kids to code? Here’s why you could be missing out on “unqualified” talent June 18, 2015 The drive to boost young peoples’ coding credentials has gathered steam alongside a marked increase in business demand for these skill sets. According to some estimates, UK employers will need 745,000 additional digitally-skilled workers by 2017, with a further 1 million by 2020. With an inevitable rush to educate young people accordingly, could we [...]
MPs will have to move out of House of Commons for at least two years under multi-billion-pound restoration plans June 18, 2015 MPs will be moved out of the House of Commons for several years under plans to renovate the UK's crumbling Palace of Westminster. A report, produced by consultants on behalf of the government, today put forward a number of options – but all of them involve the closure of both chambers for at least [...]
E.on confirms closure of Killingholme power station June 18, 2015 Energy giant E.on will close its Killingholme gas-fired power station in North Lincolnshire, saying market conditions are too challenging to continue operations. The decision follows a review that was prompted after a move in March to stop “normal” generation at the site, which meant releasing Killingholme's 900MW of Transmission Entry Capacity. National Grid [...]
End Austerity Now: Far left group Class War organises separate Bank of England demo amid claims that police are banning people from the march June 18, 2015 Far left group Class War is organising a counter-protest against austerity this Saturday (June 20), claiming the main demonstration will fail to bring about any change. The group has called for supporters to meet outside Bank of England at midday – an hour ahead of the time scheduled for the march being organised by [...]
RBS glitch demonstrates the UK’s creaking banking infrastructure June 17, 2015 Today’s payment glitches at RBS, which are affecting thousands of customers across the UK, are another timely reminder that many of the City’s IT systems are a ticking time bomb. This is not the first time the UK’s creaking legacy systems are in the spotlight. Last October, RBS was fined £56m following an IT meltdown [...]
Government fails to meet civil service cut pledge: DWP employs more than 81,000 while DCMS has just 570 June 17, 2015 The coalition government failed to meet its pledge to cut the number of civil servants, new figures show. There were 406,140 civil servants employed across government departments in the first quarter of this year – a slight increase on the back end of 2014, and a 15 per cent reduction since 2010, according to [...]
City and Gild: Premium brands should beware the temptation to “be more Aldi” June 17, 2015 So the head of the Boarding Schools Association, Robin Fletcher, has apparently encouraged his members to be more like Aldi, and cut their prices to offer a budget version in an effort to appeal to a larger market. If filling spaces were the issue for boarding schools, then this could be an approach you [...]
