Flights beginning to return to normal after London airspace closure December 12, 2014 Flights from London airports are beginning to return to normal after Nats, the UK air traffic controller, confirmed it has restored power to systems at Swanswick control centre in Hampshire Earlier in the day, a power outage closed London airspace and suspended flights from London airports. Flights from Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and City Airport [...]
Construction output falls 2.2 per cent – but it’s not as disappointing as it looks December 12, 2014 Growth in the UK construction industry rose by a modest 0.7 per cent in October compared with the year before, and contracted 2.2 per cent on the previous month. Does this mean the sector – which has until recently put in a reliable performance – is beginning to suffer? It's worth pointing out that the [...]
Oil drops again as the International Energy Agency slashes its growth forecast December 12, 2014 Is £1-a-litre petrol about to become a reality? Oil prices fell again this morning, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) slashed its forecast for growth in the oil sector. According to the IEA's monthly oil market report, global growth in the market will hit 900,000 barrels a day next year, 230,000 fewer than previously expected. [...]
US government narrowly averts a(nother) shutdown December 12, 2014 It was another heart-in-mouth moment for Barack Obama last night, as the US House of Representatives narrowly averted the second government shutdown in just over a year within two-and-a-half hours of its deadline. After a day of to-ing and fro-ing, as well as pressure on rebellious Democrats, the House finally passed a $1 trillion (£636.2bn) [...]
Battle for Canary Wharf heats up as pro-Qatari investor increases its stake in Songbird Estates December 11, 2014 The future of Canary Wharf's ownership is looking increasingly uncertain, after a shareholder which has given its backing to a Qatari bid for the estate's owner, Songbird Estates, increased its stake – just as fellow shareholders vowed to prevent the deal at all costs. Third Avenue, which yesterday became the third investor to offer its [...]
Bank of England policy changes: The Bank wants to cut MPC meetings to eight a year December 11, 2014 The Bank of England has announced a raft of changes to the way it operates in an effort to increase transparency – including cutting the number of meetings its monetary policy committe (MPC) has each year from 12 to eight. Does this mean MPC members are as bored of interest rates – which this month [...]
Google News shutdown: Google confirms it will turn off its Spanish news service December 11, 2014 Google has confirmed plans to turn off its Google News service in Spain, in anticipation of draconian new copyright rules charging websites which aggregate content. The rules, due to be introduced next year, means news aggregators will be forced to pay publishers an annual fee to link to their content. If they don't pay up, [...]
City firms dominate Stonewall’s Star Performers list December 11, 2014 City firms including Barclays and Goldman Sachs have dominated the "Star Performers" list published by Stonewall today. The group said the eight companies on the list have been "consistently ranked as top 10 gay-friendly workplaces" in its annual Workplace Equality Index. Other star performers included consultant Accenture, law firm Simmons & Simmons, tech giant IBM, [...]
Tui confirms German parent company merger December 11, 2014 Holiday company Tui Travel confirmed this morning that it will go ahead with a merger with its €6.5bn (£5bn) German parent, Tui AG, as planned. This morning the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had suspended trading at the behest of the company. It will then re-list as Tui AG on 17 December. Between them, [...]
Former Quindell chairman, Rob Terry, sells most of his stake, sending share price down by almost half December 10, 2014 Quindell klaxon, everyone: former chairman Rob Terry has sold off most of his remaining stake in the embattled insurance outsourcer, sending shares plummeting by almost half their value, to 24.1p. The company has been at the centre of a massive loss of confidence over the past few months. Since April, when mysterious US short seller [...]
