Car sales flat ahead of vital plate change September 6, 2012 NEW CAR registrations crept up in August, just ahead of the September arrival of the new “62” plate, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday. Registrations inched up 0.1 per cent on last year, reaching a total of 59,433 for the month, meaning that 40,000 more cars were sold in the first [...]
City Views | Have you bought a new car this year? September 6, 2012 HANNAH DISS SNR DENTON I will probably in the next 2-3 years but at the moment I can’t. Fuel duty and road tax are huge costs and I don’t think the government is doing enough for the consumer, especially first-time buyers like me. ANDY TAYLOR I’m Australian and haven’t bought a car in the UK [...]
Data shows US jobs and activity are growing slowly but steadily September 6, 2012 DATA APPEARED to support President Obama’s claim that the economy is recovering yesterday, as two employment measures showed marked improvement, and non-manufacturing industries were shown to be expanding. The non-manufacturing sector reported growth for the 32nd consecutive month, jumping to 53.7 on the headline ISM index yesterday, up from 52.6 in July – a score [...]
Households get to work in England September 6, 2012 Every region of England saw a decline in the number of households where no one has a job, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday. London was up with the frontrunners, with its proportion of households where no one works declining from 18.6 per cent in 2011 to 16.8 per cent this year. Yet bigger [...]
Farmland driven up by food prices September 6, 2012 Demand for farmland continues to be strong, and drive rising prices for rural land, a survey from RICS economics and the RAC claimed today. They believe the boom is driven by high and rising commodity prices.
Riksbank drops rate 0.25 per cent September 6, 2012 Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, decided to cut interest rates in yesterday’s meeting, against a consensus expectation that rates would remain where they were. The rate dropped 25 basis points to 1.25 per cent, on worries about the global outlook, combined with low domestic inflation and potential exchange rate issues due to the recent appreciation [...]
Shares plunge at May Gurney after warning September 6, 2012 SHARES in construction firm May Gurney plunged by 41 per cent yesterday, as the firm issued a profit warning. May Gurney’s chief executive, Phillip Fellowes-Prynne, also announced he was leaving with immediate effect, after spending four years with the firm. Willie MacDiarmid, currently non-executive director, will assume the role of chief executive officer in the [...]
Costain and Balfour Beatty sign £288m nuclear Magnox project September 6, 2012 CONSTRUCTION firms Costain and Balfour Beatty yesterday won a joint contract across the UK’s Magnox nuclear power plants. The contract, worth £288m, is for the decommission of all 10 Magnox-operated sites on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The NDA, a government body, has been charged with decommissioning and cleaning up civil nuclear sites [...]
Honda invests £267m in UK plant September 6, 2012 Japanese carmaker Honda is giving its Swindon plant a £267m cash boost to replace robotics and upgrade production methods, as part of the firm’s plans to ramp up production. The auto giant’s announcement yesterday is a welcome boost for the Wiltshire-based factory, which has seen funding reduced in recent years due to poor sales. Part [...]
Mediterranean divests Italy assets September 6, 2012 Mediterranean Oil & Gas yesterday said it would divest its non-core exploration and production assets in Italy, as they are no longer considered part of the growth strategy for gas production. Mediterranean will sell 13 gas assets to Canoel International Energy Limited (CIL) for €100m (£62m). The gas production that will be divested stands at [...]
