Government sells off its final stake in Royal Mail – but only institutional investors need apply October 12, 2015 The government has announced plans to sell off its final stake in Royal Mail, two years after it began privatising the company – but true to form, only institutional investors will get a chance to buy the shares. In a statement today, it said had begun the process of selling off its remaining shareholding, which [...]
Standard & Poor’s slashes Volkswagen’s credit rating on emissions scandal October 12, 2015 More bad news for beleaguered car maker Volkswagen, after Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rating, as well as its bank and financial services arms. In a statement today, S&P said it was lowering VW's long- and short-term ratings to A/A-2, from A/A-1, and left its outlook at "negative", taking the same action with VW Financial Services [...]
Office rents in the outer London “donut” are rising at their fastest in 15 years October 12, 2015 Anyone planning to move their business out of the centre of London to save cash should think again, after new research suggested office rents on the outskirts of the capital increased by the most in 15 years in September. The research, by property services giant CBRE, found office rental values in the "donut" around the M25/outer [...]
Employers to workers: Please stop dragging yourselves into work when you’re sick October 12, 2015 As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, it turns out employers are living in fear of an unusual trend: workers slogging into work when they're sick. A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has found a third of employers have noticed an increase of people coming into work this year, [...]
It turns out 11.17am on Monday is the most miserable time of the week October 12, 2015 Even those of us who tend to head to work with a spring in our steps can't deny that on occasion, getting out of bed on a Monday morning can be tough. But it turns out that 7am alarm isn't the worst time of the week: according to the new survey, that accolade belongs to 11.17am on a [...]
RACE: Ferrari speeds off the starting grid as Fiat Chrysler launches IPO October 12, 2015 The flotation of luxury car maker Ferrari sped off the starting grid with a throaty roar this morning, as Fiat Chrysler, its parent company, announced the launch of its IPO. The company, which owns 90 per cent of Ferrari, said it will sell a nine per cent stake in the company at somewhere between $48 and [...]
Knight Frank slashes is forecast for Prime central London house price growth October 9, 2015 An upmarket estate agent has become one of the first to admit rapid growth in the price of the capital's luxury homes might be beginning to ebb, after it slashed its forecast for house price growth in London's most exclusive areas. Knight Frank said today it had revised its growth expectations for 2016 from 4.5 per cent to two [...]
Standard Chartered share price jumps as leaked memo from Bill Winters shows it will cut 1,000 senior management jobs October 9, 2015 New Standard Chartered boss Bill Winters has wasted no time in getting down to business, after he told staff the company is planning to cut a quarter – around 1,000 – of the bank's senior management roles. The Asia-focused lender has struggled as earnings slid over the past two years years, but since Winter's arrival earlier in the summer, [...]
UK growth threat as construction sector output falls for the first time since May 2013 October 9, 2015 Output in the UK construction industry fell unexpectedly in August – its first fall since May 2013. Figures by the Office for National Statistics published this morning showed construction fell 4.3 per cent in August compared with the month before, and 1.3 per cent compared with the same month in 2013. The news came as [...]
Parents, stop pushing your first-born children so hard – you may be making them short-sighted October 9, 2015 We all know first-born children have it best: they're more likely to be more successful, ambitious and well-qualified. But a new study has found oldest children also have it hardest in one area: eyesight. The findings, by Cardiff University's Dr Jeremy Guggenheim, has found while oldest children tend to do better in exams, their eyesight [...]
