Chancellor George Osborne and City minister Harriet Baldwin on why China is key to securing London’s future September 22, 2015 This is a critical moment in Britain’s relationship with China. The government is clear – we want to build strong links with every part of China and recent volatility should not and will not put us off. Instead, it should drive us forward. We must seek to integrate China’s financial markets with our own, [...]
JCB to axe 400 jobs as global slowdown leaves it in a hole September 22, 2015 CONSTRUCTION giant JCB yesterday said that 400 jobs at the firm are at risk due to a dramatic slowdown in global demand. The firm said that the construction equipment market has slumped in key markets such as Russia, Brazil, China and India. Chief executive Graeme Macdonald said: “The situation is not about to improve.” JCB [...]
Finsbury Food profits soar after gobbling up rival bakery chains September 22, 2015 BREAD and cake-maker Finsbury Food has posted a surge in full-year profits, boosted by its acquisition of rival baker Fletchers and Just Desserts. The company, which supplies celebration cakes and other baked goods to retailers including Morrisons and M&S, posted a 6.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the year to 27 June. Group [...]
Telford Homes in £23m acquisition September 22, 2015 TELFORD Homes has extended its reach in north and east London with its £22.97m purchase of United House Developments’ (UHD) regeneration business. The business, which was previously owned by United House Group Holdings, consists of a group of companies with “various interests in four significant development opportunities” in the area. These sites are City North, [...]
Lifetime earnings point to much greater level of equality in Britain September 22, 2015 Income inequality in the UK is significantly less than previous research has suggested, an influential think tank said today. A common measure of income inequality known as the Gini coefficient is 0.49 when looking at peoples’ annual earnings, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said. A Gini coefficient closer to zero represents a more equal [...]
Slow and steady for AA as debt mountain grows September 22, 2015 The AA will lay bare the extent of its debt problems today when it releases interim results, with the company expected to say that it must pay about £150m in annual interest costs. The roadside assistance group is saddled with over £3bn of debt, linked to its takeover by private equity firms Permira, Charterhouse and [...]
George Osborne puts all economic bets on China and plans to bring the London and Shanghai Stock Exchanges closer together September 22, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne will today brush off concerns over volatility in Chinese markets and reveal new plans to connect British and Chinese stock exchanges. Unfazed by August’s market shocks, and the authoritarian response from Beijing, Osborne will say at the Shanghai Stock Exchange today: “Whatever the headlines, regardless of the challenges, we shouldn’t be [...]
Executive pay debate: Not all measures of inequality are equal – The City View September 21, 2015 Few areas of public policy have provoked more debate, hand-wringing, tweets and tomes in recent years as the issue of inequality. It turned a French economist, Thomas Piketty, into a global superstar and has provided a seemingly undeniable intellectual foundation to the pontifications of the contemporary left. But like all areas of social and economic [...]
Balfour Beatty and Carillion win roads contract worth up to £292m September 21, 2015 A JOINT venture between construction groups Balfour Beatty and Carillion has won a Highways England contract to upgrade part of the A14. The companies expect the deal to generate around £292m in revenue for the joint venture. The construction package is part of the wider A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, to which the government [...]
Which? calls on FCA to investigate credit card balance transfer fees September 21, 2015 Consumer advice group Which? will today release figures that show only four per cent of consumers are able to correctly calculate credit card balance transfer fees. Balance transfers allow part or all of a card’s debit balance or debt to be transferred from one card to another. According to Which?, 21 per cent of people [...]
