Housing market is looking healthier June 28, 2010 THE long upwards run for house prices has ground to a halt. The recent history of UK house prices has confounded many commentators: values plunged when the credit crunch hit, albeit not as much as in the US, then regained over half of their losses over the past year. The present return to stagnation makes [...]
Lambert to leave the CBI June 28, 2010 RICHARD Lambert, the business lobbyist who caused a furore by warning excessively-paid executives risked being seen as “aliens”, is to step down as director-general of the CBI. Lambert will leave next year after five years at the helm of the influential body. Saxton Bampfylde, the specialist headhunter, has been appointed to find his successor. Lambert [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 28, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SHIRE SEES SALES BOOST FROM RARE DISEASE DRUG Shire is bracing itself for a significant boost in sales after European regulators authorised teh use of teh company’s experimental drug to treat an extremely rare disease. In a decision set to be ratified by the European Commission in the coming weeks, the European Medicines [...]
Siemens to set up its own bank June 28, 2010 Siemens is seeking a banking licence to manage its own risks and expand the product portfolio of its financial services unit, the German industrial conglomerate said yesterday. Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering company, said it had applied for the licence to German financial regulator Bafin, which is now reviewing the application. Chief financial officer Joe Kaeser [...]
Blair wants public-private co-op June 28, 2010 Tony Blair yesterday called for a flush of private sector talent to brush the cobwebs away from dusty Whitehall. The former Labour leader effectively backed a plea by Tory front-bencher Francis Maude to reinvigorate the policy-making corridors of power. Blair said rules limiting interaction between public and private employees, designed to prevent conflicts of interest, [...]
Shares gush for oil firms after big find June 28, 2010 PREMIER Oil, EnCore Oil and Nautical Petroleum saw their shares rocket yesterday after a North Sea oil find which has the potential to be one of the area’s biggest in a decade. The discovery at Catcher East, 110 miles east of Aberdeen, means the field is estimated to hold up to 300m barrels of oil, [...]
Sentance: Interest rates need to go up June 28, 2010 Britain’s tough Budget does not remove the need to start raising interest rates now, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance said yesterday. Sentance shocked markets last week when it was revealed that he had voted to raise interest rates by a quarter-point to 0.75 per cent, the first call for an increase [...]
Banks are still at risk but support packages must end, says BIS June 28, 2010 BANK profits cannot continue to rise at their current levels, according to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). The institution says the hike in earnings seen in the wake of the collapse is temporary and the sovereign debt crisis could weigh heavily on their bottom lines. They could also be hit by tumbling commercial property [...]
Commuters face rail fare hike in 2011 June 28, 2010 RAIL passengers could face a steep rise in fare prices next year, according to transport secretary Philip Hammond, who said that the existing pricing formula might not survive the tough autumn spending review. Fares are expected to rise by more than six per cent at the start of 2011 but Hammond has warned they could [...]
Cap on non-EU immigration is deeply worrying, say firms June 28, 2010 BUSINESSES are “deeply worried” about the government’s plan to introduce a permanent cap on immigration from outside the EU. Baroness Valentine, the chief executive of lobby group London First, said an arbitrary limit would run contrary to the claim that Britain is “open for business”. “Any talk of a cap is deeply worrying. London is [...]
