Middle class benefits set to be slashed as cuts begin October 3, 2010 THE Prime Minister yesterday hinted that “middle class” benefits like child support could be scaled back to pay for the biggest overhaul of the welfare state in 40 years. David Cameron signalled that some universal payouts wouldn’t be “affordable” if the government pursues root-and-branch reform of the benefits system. Cameron’s comments come after the Treasury [...]
Health and safety rules to be culled to save money October 3, 2010 THE government yesterday unveiled plans to scrap health and safety legislation that costs firms billions of pounds a year. Healthy and safety tsar Lord Young, the special adviser that helped Sir Keith Joseph usher in privatisation in 1979, said he would “sweep away tick-box bureaucracy that undermines personal responsibility”. And he announced plans to crack [...]
Premier Foods in talks to sell Quorn brand October 3, 2010 PREMIER Foods confirmed yesterday that it had received an approach for its meat-free brand Quorn. The UK’s largest food producer, whose brands include Hovis bread, Branston Pickle and Bisto gravy, promised in August to reduce its £1.4bn debt pile by £100m each year. The FTSE 250-listed group refused to name the suitor or asking price [...]
Centrica chairman Carr mulls role advising on defence cuts October 3, 2010 CENTRICA chairman Roger Carr has been approached by the government about taking a role on the board of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), as part of its plan to appoint business leaders to oversee efficiency drives across all Whitehall departments. A number of business grandees have already been sounded out about the roles by Lord [...]
John Laing prepares to float its assets via a new investment fund October 3, 2010 CONSTRUCTION company John Laing is believed to be preparing to float some of its assets on the London Stock Exchange. Laing, owned by asset manager Henderson Group, will spin out some of its assets into a new fund by year-end, according to the Infrastructure Journal, which cited a source close to the deal. The report [...]
GE closes in on UK oil firm with top bid October 3, 2010 GENERAL ELECTRIC (GE) is plotting an £800m-plus takeover of British oil services group Wellstream, it emerged over the weekend. The US based conglomerate is thought to have been the first bidder for Wellstream, which makes specialist pipes used in offshore drilling. Late last month, Wellstream confirmed that it had received several bid approaches but would [...]
Banking bosses call on the City to work together to restore industry reputation October 3, 2010 LEADERS of the UK banking industry are this morning set to gather at the Mansion House for a summit to discuss ways to help the City rebuild public trust in the industry following the excesses and risk-taking of the pre-crisis years. Lord Mayor Nick Anstee will be joined at the event by banking scions such [...]
Chinese head backs a stable euro currency October 3, 2010 CHINA pledged yesterday to support a stable euro and not reduce its holdings of European government bonds in an effort to deflect criticism of its foreign exchange policy ahead of an EU-China summit this week. China, at loggerheads with the US over the yuan and likely to face similar complaints during his tour of European [...]
Irish government targets €4bn cuts October 3, 2010 IRELAND’S government is understood to be targeting target savings of €4bn (£3.5bn) in the 2011 budget as it seeks to get its fiscal crisis under control. Finance minister Brian Lenihan said this week he would need to go above an initial target of €3bn in savings from next year’s budget and would unveil a four-year [...]
Germany’s Hypo Real Estate puts €173bn of assets into a bad bank October 3, 2010 GERMANY’S Hypo Real Estate completed its transfer of non-strategic and risky assets to a “bad bank” as the nationalised lender restructures in the wake of the financial crisis. Hypo Real Estate (HRE) transferred loans and securities worth a nominal €173bn (£150.8bn) to a work-out institution called FMS Wertmanagement, HRE said in a statement yesterday, adding [...]
