Cork blimey! Christmas champagne outsells semi-skimmed milk at Lidl January 4, 2015 Shoppers at budget supermarket chain Lidl bought more champagne than semi-skimmed milk this Christmas, the retailer has revealed. Figures show that savvy customers snapped up so many bottles of Lidl’s £11.99 Comte De Senneval champagne that it knocked the store’s usual bestseller, semi-skimmed milk, off the top spot for the festive season. The champagne has [...]
The sky’s the limit for Walkie Talkie diners January 4, 2015 CITY-workers looking for a pick me up to soothe the January blues can now take that phrase literally and look to the top of London’s curviest new skyscraper, the Walkie Talkie. The block on Fenchurch street will today fling open the doors to its much-anticipated sky garden, a public green space on the roof of [...]
Tories launch pre-election attack on Labour spending January 4, 2015 George Osborne will today launch a stinging attack on Labour ahead of the election, claiming that a win for Ed Miliband’s party would spell billions of pounds of unfunded spending commitments and tax hikes for the UK. The chancellor is set to unveil detailed spending analysis by Treasury officials of the policies Labour has already [...]
David Cameron’s absence from Labour spending review launch is a subtle but clever political trap – Bottom Line January 4, 2015 David Cameron’s decision not to attend the launch of a key spending review into Labour’s election pledges this morning speaks volumes about the type of campaign he plans to run. Up until now commentators have predicted that the Tories will use the Prime Minister at every given opportunity, safe in the knowledge that Ed Miliband’s [...]
German deputy: Greece will stay in the Eurozone January 4, 2015 GERMANY wants Greece to stay in the Eurozone, Angela Merkel’s deputy has said. Vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the Eurozone has become more resilient and countered claims that Berlin believes the currency union could survive without Greece as a member. “The goal of the German government, the European Union and even the government in Athens [...]
Jobs market in City surged by one fifth in 2014 January 4, 2015 CITY hiring jumped by a fifth last year, as the continuing UK recovery and increased business confidence opened up 33,063 new jobs. And recruitment firm Astbury Marsden says that healthier market conditions in the City means many workers are expecting bigger bonuses for their performance last year. Figures showed an 18 per cent jump in [...]
Cameron in new bid to win over Merkel for EU and US trade talks January 4, 2015 DAVID Cameron hopes to win over German chancellor Angela Merkel as an ally in opening up freer trade with the US, when she visits the UK this week. The British government wants the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to be as deep and wide-ranging as possible, and fears its positive effects on economic growth [...]
Challenger banks to lead a new jump in stock market flotations January 4, 2015 EIGHT major firms are expected to float in the UK early this year, with challenger banks leading the way. Last year saw the most initial public offerings (IPOs) across the world since 2007 as investors became more confident in putting their funds into newly-listed firms. Worldwide economic wobbles dampened the market in the autumn, but [...]
Cargo ship aground in the Solent January 4, 2015 THE CAR transporter ship The Hoegh Osaka has ran aground on a sand bank near Cowes, in the Solent. The 180m (590ft) vessel, which was leaving Southampton en route to Germany, ran aground on Bramble Bank on Saturday night. All 25 crew members were rescued and plans for the salvage of the ship, now listing [...]
Bank of England minutes: More light to be shed on BoE’s financial crisis response January 4, 2015 Minutes from meetings of the Bank of England’s directors between 2007 and 2009 are due to be released this Wednesday. The minutes should shed further light on the central bank’s response to the financial crisis which involved cutting its policy rate to a record low of 0.5 per cent and embarking on an ambitious and [...]
