Drax and Intergen slapped with £39m fine from Ofgem November 28, 2014 Ofgem has hit Drax, the operator of the UK's largest coal-fired power plant, and Intergen, which operates three power stations in the UK, with a £39m fine after they failed to meet targets on energy efficiency. The £28m Drax will be made to pay is the largest ever fine handed down by Ofgem. Intergen, meanwhile, [...]
Shell, BP and Petrofac shares close down as Opec decides not to cut oil production November 27, 2014 FTSE 100 oil producers plummeted this afternoon as the Opec group of oil-producing companies, who met today in Vienna, announced its decision not to curb oil production, despite falling prices. Tullow Oil and BG Group were among the biggest fallers, closing down 7.76 per cent and 6.15 per cent respectively, while Petrofac closed down 5.95 per [...]
EU votes to break up Google (but it won’t happen) November 27, 2014 As hypothetical votes go, this is a big 'un. The European parliament has passed a resolution calling for Google to spin off its search engine business, in a pointed show of disapproval at the US search giant's practices. Although the resolution doesn't mention Google by name, the catchily-titled "resolution on supporting consumer rights in the [...]
Immigration figures: More workers came to the UK last year than ever before. Awkward… November 27, 2014 Net migration rose to 260,000 in the year to June, official statistics published today showed – that's an increase of 78,000, or 43 per cent, on the year before. And the number of immigrants coming to the UK for work rose to 247,000, the highest since records began. How's David Cameron going to explain that [...]
Oil prices just fell to their lowest in four years November 27, 2014 The fall in oil prices continues apace. The price of both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent oil fell to $72.78 and $76 per barrel respectively this morning – both four-year lows – as traders nervously awaited the outcome of a meeting of the Opec group of oil-producing countries in Vienna today. The 12-member group [...]
Poundland’s quids in with 11.7 per cent rise in profits November 27, 2014 Shares in discount retailer Poundland edged 3.7 per cent higher to just under 314p after it posted a 11.7 per cent rise in pre-tax profits, which hit £9.3m in the six months to the end of September. Sales rose 15 per cent to £528.2m, while net debt fell 83 per cent to £4.4m, as it [...]
Harriet Green told a conference last week that Thomas Cook’s transformation is “absolutely not done” November 26, 2014 What's going on with Harriet Green's departure? The Thomas Cook chief executive announced today she is stepping down with immediate effect because, she said, "my work here is done". Her transformation of Thomas Cook's fortunes has certainly been extraordinary – shares were languishing around 15p when she joined in 2012. Today, they were trading at [...]
Black Friday 2014: From Uranium ore to free guns – five of the weirdest US Black Friday deals November 26, 2014 The US takes its Christmas shopping seriously. Black Friday, the day US shoppers traditionally pull themselves out of their Thanksgiving-induced food comas and hit the high street, was worth $12.3bn (£7.8bn) last year. And while some of the discounts retailers make to entice shoppers are pretty extreme (Walmart, for instance, is selling iPads for $199, [...]
GDP growth sticks at 0.7 per cent in the third quarter November 26, 2014 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today confirmed its estimate for GDP growth between the second and third quarters, leaving growth at 0.7 per cent. The figure is a fall from the previous quarter's 0.9 per cent growth, although that had been expected. The statistics authority added that between the third quarter of last year [...]
Passengers push-start frozen-up plane in Russia November 26, 2014 Most of us are used to giving our cars a bit more TLC than usual on a frosty morning. But a group of passengers at Russia's Igarka airport, just above the Arctic Circle, had to give their plane a push after its brakes froze up. The Siberian Times reported that passengers on the UTair service to [...]
