In pictures: Firefighters investigate fire at Didcot B power station October 20, 2014 Firefighters say they're investigating a massive blaze at the gas-fired Didcot B power station in Oxfordshire, which broke out last night. The fire started in one of the station's cooling towers at about 8pm, with 25 fire engines and 100 firefighters tackling it at its height. One of the station's two "modules", which between them [...]
Downing Street: UK needs to renegotiate EU membership despite José Manuel Barroso’s warnings October 20, 2014 The UK "needs" to renegotiate its European Union membership, a Downing Street official has warned – despite warnings by José Manuel Barroso it will lose relevance if it leaves the union. In a speech at think tank Chatham House this morning, the outgoing European Commission president, who steps down this month, said EU membership had [...]
Quiz: Just how City are you? October 2, 2014 Do you know your put options from your call options? Can you explain an interest rate swap without thinking? Are you more accustomed to quaffing champagne than spending the evening nursing a pint? We all know a Gordon Gekko wannabe – but how much of a City boy/girl are you? Find out how [...]
Conservative party conference 2014: We’ll raise personal allowance to £12,500 and the 40p tax threshold, says David Cameron October 1, 2014 David Cameron pulled out the big guns during his speech at the Conservative party conference today, pledging that a future Tory government will raise the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 from the current level of £10,000, as well as raising the 40p tax threshold to £50,000, from £41,900. During his keynote address, Cameron said after [...]
Productivity gets even more puzzling, as output falls 0.3 per cent October 1, 2014 Bank of England governor Mark Carney's "productivity puzzle" was back with a bang this morning, after figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed labour productivity fell 0.3 per cent on the year before during the second quarter. Carney has previously said productivity is one of the Bank's biggest concerns. While indicators such [...]
More Tube chaos with delays and cancellations on the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines October 1, 2014 More chaos for London's Tube users this morning, after a broken-down train at Tottenham Court Road caused Transport for London (TfL) to suspend the line between Liverpool Street and Marble Arch. To make matters worse, the Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Circle lines were hit with severe delays while TfL fixed a signal failure at [...]
Ebay shares jump in pre-market trading as it confirms Paypal spin-off and poaches American Express’ Dan Schulman as its new chief exec September 30, 2014 Ebay shares jumped 11 per cent in pre-market trading as it confirmed plans to spin off its online payment company Paypal into a separately listed company sometime in the second half of next year. The auction site said following a strategic review, its board had decided separating the two companies will position them "to capitalise [...]
Second-quarter UK GDP revised up to 0.9 per cent, making us one of the fastest-growing developed economies September 30, 2014 The UK is recovering faster than thought, official figures released today suggested – the Office for National Statistics said GDP rose 0.9 per cent during the second quarter, up from the previous estimate of 0.8 per cent. The figure means UK GDP was 3.2 per cent higher than during the same period in 2013, and [...]
Saga share price edges up as finance director announces plans to step down just months after its IPO September 30, 2014 Shares in Saga opened 0.2 per cent higher this morning, after its finance director announced plans to step down. Stuart Howard said he will leave the company by next year, to be replaced by current Bovis CFO Jonathan Hill. Andrew Goodsell, the company's chairman, said after more than 14 years in the role, Howard "feels [...]
RBS share price rises as it says impairment charges will be “significantly” lower in 2014 September 30, 2014 Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) opened four per cent higher as it told investors it expects impairment charges to be "significantly" lower than originally expected in 2014. The bank, which is still 81 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said impairment charges will "out-perform" previous guidance of £1bn. During the third quarter there [...]
