Autumn Statement 2014: Here’s every single one of the chancellor’s “roads revolution” projects mapped December 2, 2014 Yesterday various politicians were dispatched to stand on hard shoulders and squint at maps as the government announced a £15bn plan to revitalise the nation's roads. The plan, which stretches from 2015-2021, includes a commitment to spend £3bn on new projects, with £6bn ringfenced for maintenance. It covers a £1.5bn scheme to improve the A14 [...]
$35bn got wiped off Apple’s value today and no one knows why December 1, 2014 Apple shares experienced their largest fall in three months during one minute this morning, with a huge, mysterious spike in volume. Shares opened at $118.80 at 9.30am EST, before suddenly experiencing a one-minute rush at 9.51am, with 6.7 million shares traded. During that minute, shares lost more than three per cent, and eventually fell as [...]
Bank of England: UK mortgage approvals fall to their lowest since 2013 December 1, 2014 The number of mortgages approved by banks fell to their lowest since June last year in October, figures by the Bank of England showed today. There were 59,426 approvals for house purchases during the month, down from 61,234 in September. That's down from an average of 63,727 over past six months. Mortgage approvals have been [...]
Rouble plummets again on oil and China woes December 1, 2014 The rouble fell at its fastest rate since the Russian crisis in 1998 this morning, as it approaches the end of the year as the world's worst-performing currency. The currency fell 3.1 per cent to 52.00 against the dollar, at 2.5 per cent to 64.55 against the euro during early trading. In the past week [...]
Northern Line Tube strike: “90 per cent service is running”, says Transport for London December 1, 2014 The Northern Line is running a good service, with 90 per cent of trains running on time – despite a 24-hour strike by Northern Line drivers, Transport for London (TfL) said today. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are on strike over the sacking of a driver who failed a breath test, but [...]
Apple’s $700bn smash, Black Friday misery: 10 things we learned this week November 28, 2014 1. In the future, cats will change colour when they go near radiation (maybe). Someone’s already written a nursery rhyme about it 2. Londoners take “painting the town red” rather more literally than you might think: by a vast majority, they prefer red wine to any other type, reckons Naked Wines 3. Aviva [...]
Black Friday UK 2014 vs 2013: Live graph reveals how insane this year’s frenzy is as more retailers get on board November 28, 2014 Is it us, or has Black Friday gone crazy this year? There have been reports of punch-ups at supermarkets and even someone breaking their wrist in the clamour to get hold of a cheap telly. And as if we didn't already need a reminder of the sheer American-ness of it all, Asda has laid on [...]
Police blame retailers as Black Friday descends into chaos November 28, 2014 The chief of Greater Manchester Police has blamed retailers after officers were called to seven Tesco stores across Greater Manchester to deal with crowds at Black Friday events. In a video posted to YouTube, Sir Peter Fahy said three people had been arrested – including one who threatened to "smash" a staff member's face in, [...]
Business “can’t ignore” public concern over immigration, warns IoD November 28, 2014 Businesses cannot ignore the UK's concerns about immigration, the Institute of Directors has warned, after David Cameron outlined new measures to curb immigration to the UK. Although business traditionally argues in favour of encouraging immigration, pointing out that immigrants can fill yawning skills gaps in the UK workforce, Simon Walker, director general of the Institute [...]
Uncertainty over future of Tesco executives suspended after discovery of £260m profits overstatement November 28, 2014 One of the executives suspended by Tesco after it discovered a black hole in its accounts has left the company, it is understood. The BBC reported this morning one of eight executives who were suspended when it revealed it had overstated profits by £260m had stepped down. Tesco announced in September that it had overstated [...]
