No, HS2 won’t stop in west London, but it does show us why transport projects fail January 31, 2023 Last week, the long delayed high speed railway HS2 had another turn around the rumour mill, following suggestions it would end in west London. The hint of another hurdle shows us why politicians often ruin transport projects, writes Adam Tyndall. HS2 is happening and it will terminate in central London – despite the latest flurry [...]
How global dealmaking fell to a 10-year low in 2022 – and why executives aren’t worried January 31, 2023 The value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) globally dropped 36 per cent last year to a 10-year low but executives remain confident for dealmaking in 2023, a new report from Bain shows. The report, which was released today, shows that M&A, particularly mega-deals worth more than $10bn, slumped from June 2022 after five months of [...]
UK receives lowest ever score on corruption index as Britain’s reputation suffers after a string of political scandals January 31, 2023 Britain has received its lowest ever score and ranking on Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The drop “is a powerful indictment” in the decline in public standards, campaigners say, which have been dragged down by a series of recent government scandals around the procurement of PPE during pandemic and multiple ministerial breaches. The [...]
Hunt can plead for older works to go back to work, but businesses will need to hire them January 31, 2023 Britain's workforce is flagging, with vacancies at a record high, but Jeremy Hunt's push to get older workers back to the office will fall flat unless employers agree to change too, writes Ann Francke.
UK only G7 economy to shrink this year as IMF deals blow to Jeremy Hunt recession declinism criticism January 31, 2023 Britain will emerge as the “sick man” of the world’s richest countries this year, snatching the unwanted title of being the only G7 economy to contract in 2023, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The world’s economic watchdog has slashed its expectations for UK GDP again, now pencilling in a 0.6 per [...]
Octopus calls on Ofgem to ease higher costs for non-debit customers January 30, 2023 Octopus Energy has urged Ofgem to end payment penalties sooner for standard credit customers as the cost of living crisis bites.
Banks struggle with digital transition as new data shows 10 per cent of customer records are duplicated January 30, 2023 Major banks are struggling to manage their digital records as new data shows that around ten per cent of customer records are duplicated. Quantexa, a data analytics firm, asked 356 IT and data experts working in the UK, USA and Canada how many customer records were duplicated in their respective sectors. In the banking industry, [...]
Hospitality braces for £100m in lost sales ahead of biggest day of strikes in over a decade January 30, 2023 Retail and hospitality figures have described strike action set to take place on Wednesday as “damaging” to the sector and “entirely avoidable”. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality told City A.M. she estimates union strikes this week will set the sector back a further £100m in lost sales, with “much of that impact being felt [...]
Caffe Nero shrugs off inflation as Brits’ coffee habits drive sales of £150m January 30, 2023 Caffe Nero generated UK sales of £150m for the first half of the financial year, averaging 104 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and an increase of 17 per cent for the same period in 2021. The coffee chain added Deliveroo and Just Eat to its delivery partner service last year, which it said helped secure [...]
Renault and Nissan hash out old tensions and increase equality of their partn January 30, 2023 Renault and Nissan have agreed on a deal which will put the automobile manufacturing giants on a more equal footing as the partnership looks to build a more constructive relationship. Renault is reducing its stake in the Japanese carmaker to 15 per cent, down from about 43 per cent, which balances the companies’ cross-shareholdings more [...]
