Clients not class mean success in accountancy May 6, 2014 PARTNERS in the UK’s top accountancy firms are most likely to be state-educated and from working or lower middle class families who did not go to the best universities, according to new research. In contrast to large law firms where partners tend to come from privileged backgrounds, partners from the big four accountancy firms – [...]
US services are gathering pace May 6, 2014 FIRMS in the US services sectors are recording the strongest growth since summer, throwing off fears that slow growth early this year was caused by more than bad weather. The Institute for Supply Management’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for non-manufacturing companies came in at 55.2 in April, the best since August. Markit’s PMI for [...]
Trade benefits of EU overdone May 6, 2014 THE TRADE benefits of remaining in the EU have been exaggerated and distorted, according to a report from think tank Civitas. The author, Michael Burrage, says that the “insider advantage” to trade that stems from the UK being in the EU does not stand up to the facts. In 1972, when the UK entered the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 06 May 2014 May 6, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Loopholes for Cameron on EU treaty David Cameron’s demands to renegotiate British membership of the EU would not necessarily require a treaty change, according to the top Brussels lawyer who helped to draft every EU treaty from Maastricht to Lisbon. Jean-Claude Piris, former legal counsel of the European Council and the Council of [...]
Bottom Line: Mega-merger could lead to big break-up May 6, 2014 IF THE financial crisis of 2007-08 taught us anything it’s that bigger does not necessarily mean better. The idea that corporate behemoths – let alone entire governments – are inherently safe from fiscal turmoil was blown to smithereens. Pfizer’s advances towards Astrazeneca are therefore, with some justification, provoking concern among certain investors. Is this not [...]
Pfizer boss denies takeover is needed to fix tumbling profits May 6, 2014 PFIZER boss Ian Read insisted yesterday that the attempted £63bn takeover of pharmaceuticals rival Astrazeneca is not being driven by a need to reverse his company’s fortunes, despite revealing a 15 per cent drop in first-quarter net income. Read told investors that his company is not pursuing Astrazeneca “because we feel any negativity towards our [...]
Amazon teams up with Twitter to launch tweet-to-buy service May 6, 2014 AMAZON’S customers can now order items from the online retail giant directly from Twitter. The Amazon Basket service lets users who have connected their Amazon and Twitter accounts to add items to their baskets just by tweeting the link of an Amazon product along with the #AmazonBasket hashtag. “When Amazon customers see an Amazon.co.uk product [...]
Union suspends Tube strike after last-ditch talks May 6, 2014 A PLANNED three-day strike by London Underground (LU) workers was called off yesterday just hours before it was due to take place, after both sides called a truce. Members of the RMT union were set to walk out at 9pm last night in a row over LU’s plan to close all Tube ticket offices and [...]
Profligate France in line for EU fine for above-target borrowing May 6, 2014 FRANCE’S large budget deficit is expected to break European limits this year, the European Commission (EC) forecast yesterday. A deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP this year and 3.4 per cent next year is above the three per cent target and means the country could incur a fine from the EC. The forecasts also [...]
Q and A: What happens now strike is suspended May 6, 2014 Q What did members of the RMT and London Underground agree on yesterday? A A station by station review will now continue, with all the trades unions invited to take part before any further Tube proposals are made. The review is due to be completed on 23 May. Q What will happen to the jobs [...]
