Weak rise in high street sales September 6, 2010 SALES on the high street picked up slightly last month but the positive performance was flattered by an extremely weak August 2009, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will say today. Like-for-like sales values, which strip out the effect on sales of changes in floorspace, rose one per cent in August compared to the same period [...]
Record for foreigners in UK shopping bonanza September 6, 2010 LAST month was the busiest on record for international shoppers hitting UK stores, a new survey showed today. Sales were up 18 per cent with shoppers from China, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia leading the boom. The hike came despite Middle Eastern shoppers heading home for religious festival Ramadan during the month. The growth in Chinese [...]
Johnson warns banks to heed anger over pay September 6, 2010 MAYOR of London Boris Johnson, one of the very few politicians who until now has defended the City, has called on bankers to cut back on their Christmas bonuses. Johnson said the spectacle of traders taking home large payouts would create a “combustible contrast” with the first wave of public sector job losses, which are [...]
Tube strikes cause misery for Londoners September 6, 2010 MILLIONS of Londoners faced long delays getting into work today as London Underground (LU) strikers are set to continue their action into the evening. Yesterday at 5pm, LU maintenance and engineering staff left their posts and were followed four hours later by drivers, signallers, station staff and operational managers at trade unions RMT and Transport [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS THE TUBE STRIKE THE START OF WIDESPREAD INDUSTRIAL ACTION? September 6, 2010 NEAL TAYLOR | A.F.M.E “All the strikes will be about pay, no doubt, and they will never feel like they are paid enough. We’ve got to take it all with a pinch of salt, as the unions are going to do whatever they want. Luckily I’ve not been affected this time around ?– yet.” SAM [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE TUBE STRIKE? September 6, 2010 JOHN CRIDLAND | CBI “It is disappointing that the RMT and TSSA have decided to go ahead with this strike, which will disrupt London at work. It will cause misery and disruption to the general public and to employers.” COLIN STANBRIDGE | LCCI “Londoners will still struggle in to work, aided by the additional transport [...]
Q&A: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT? September 6, 2010 Q.WHY ARE WORKERS STRIKING? A.London Underground staff, as represented by unions RMT and TSSA, are striking against proposals by London Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport for London (TfL) to cut up to 800 station jobs, including ticketing staff and station management in a bid to save the cash-starved network from a series of government funding [...]
Blair cancels book signing September 6, 2010 Former Prime Minister Tony Blair cancelled a book signing at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly planned for today to prevent causing the public and the police “a lot of hassle”. Eggs and shoes were thrown at Blair at a similar event in Dublin at the weekend by anti-Iraq and Afghanistan war protesters. Blair added: “I know the [...]
Police to reopen Coulson probe September 6, 2010 The Metropolitan Police said it would look again at new material on the alleged phone-hacking of prominent figures by News of the World reporters under former editor Andy Coulson, who is now head of communications at Number 10. Labour MPs in parliament demanded the police reopen the investigation, while home secretary Theresa May said this [...]
UK faces EC calls to end rebate September 6, 2010 There is no longer any justification for the UK’s EU budget rebate – worth about £5bn last year – the EU budget commissioner said. Janusz Lewandowski told the German daily paper Handelsblatt that UK income per head had grown markedly since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher negotiated the rebate in 1984.
