By boycotting G4S and putting its party conference in jeopardy, Labour has cut off its nose to spite its face August 19, 2016 Amid the mud-slinging which has made up the Labour Party’s leadership contest, you might have missed this nugget: Labour’s annual conference is on the brink of being cancelled because it finds itself without a security detail. In doing so, it is potentially alienating thousands of voters – and not just because they won’t be able to [...]
Three fire engines attend as track fire shuts Moorgate station August 18, 2016 Moorgate station has reopened after a "small track fire" closed its national rail station. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said it had sent three fire engines after it was called to a track fire at 10.50. The Northern, Hammersmith and City, Circle and Metropolitan Lines were running as normal. However, Great Northern trains were delyed, with [...]
The value of you increased by £18,000 last year August 18, 2016 Ever wondered how much you're worth to the economy? Well, now you know: the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released analysis showing the value of the UK's human capital increased by £890bn to £19.2 trillion last year. The figures, published this morning, showed the average employed person is now worth £471,000, up £18,000 from 2014. If [...]
Oooh, sourcy: Thomas Cook gets into bed with Webjet August 18, 2016 It looks like Thomas Cook is getting off the source: the travel giant said today it has signed a strategic sourcing partnership with Sunhotels, the online accommodation arm of Webjet. Under the deal, Sunhotels will take responsibility for sourcing and contracting hotels that make up what Thomas Cook calls its complementary business. While the company focuses on its [...]
About-turn? Co-operative Bank losses shrink August 18, 2016 Things are looking up again for the once-troubled Co-operative Bank, as it unveiled incredible shrinking losses… The figures Pre-tax losses shrank to £177m in the six months to the end of June, £27.2m less than the £204.2m loss it made last year. Operating income was £228.2m, down slightly from £236.5m last year – although operating costs shrank for £222.8m, down from £262.9m last year. Capital reserves fell to 13.4 per [...]
Named: The “elite” state schools which have become Oxbridge “feeder schools” August 17, 2016 The good news is that if you don't have the cash to fork out for an expensive private school, your children can still get into Oxbridge, after a number of state schools have become "feeder schools" for the UK's top universities. The bad news is that it really is only a few, very select schools [...]
Here’s how important video games are to the UK’s economy August 17, 2016 Video gamers might look like they're slumping in front of the telly, prodding at buttons in a zombie-like fashion – but it turns out they're just doing their bit for the economy. That's according to figures from UK games industry body Tiga, anyway, which has found the UK's video games sector grew to record levels in [...]
Morrisons has finally sold its stake in Fresh Direct August 16, 2016 Morrisons has disposed of its 10 per cent stake in wholesale business Fresh Direct, it said today – almost 18 months since it first announced plans for the selloff. The supermarket said today it had got £45m from the sale – a premium of £14m to the £31m holding value of its equity investment. Morrisons said [...]
This map shows how house prices have changed since the Brexit vote in each inner London postcode August 16, 2016 There has been much fevered debate over whether the Brexit vote has affected house prices or not. While some figures have suggested prices are up, others have shown they're down: so far, so confusing. So Jefferies analyst Anthony Codling has used data from the UK's largest property portals to figure out what's actually happened to house prices in [...]
Yep, house price growth rose in June – but that was before the Brexit vote August 16, 2016 House price growth ticked up to 8.7 per cent in the year to June, official figures have shown. The figure was its highest since October 2014 – although it only included one week of The Brexit Effect. The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), was up from 8.5 per cent in May, [...]