UK retail sales grow for 12th straight month March 28, 2014 RETAIL sales bounced in February, with the quantity of purchases jumping by 3.7 per cent against the same month last year, marking the 12th month of continuous growth. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK economy’s recent upturn has prompted the longest unbroken run of monthly retail sales growth since the end [...]
Pay starts creeping back up after five bad years of high inflation March 28, 2014 PRIVATE sector pay is beginning to increase, according to payroll processing firm VocaLink. For the average worker in a FTSE 350 company, real monthly pay in the three months to February was down £130 compared with the same period five years ago. By contrast public sector workers’ monthly pay fell £118 from 2009 to 2014. [...]
Finance jobs more secure March 28, 2014 CITY jobs are among the most secure in the country as the sector picks up ahead of much of the rest of the economy, recruiter Randstad Financial & Professional said today. Just 17 per cent of finance workers feel insecure in their job, the study found, compared with an average of 23 per cent. The [...]
Best optimism rise since 1978 March 28, 2014 UK CONSUMER confidence rose at the joint-fastest pace since the 1970s in the 12 months to March, according to a survey that has been running for four decades. GfK’s index for spenders’ sentiment rose by 22 points between April 2013 and March this year, the joint fastest pace since a 12-month period between July 1977 [...]
Host Brandreth outshines the gong winners March 28, 2014 LONDON’S share price heroes were out in force last night at the KPMG UK Stock Market Awards but there wasn’t a winner in the room that could make as much of an impression as host Gyles Brandreth did as he blustered his way through the gong list. Brandreth mistook absent EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall (travel [...]
Bosses have rough night out to raise Action for Children funds March 28, 2014 CITY workers passing through Paternoster Square last night were met with the curious sight of camping equipment being prepared inside a steel fence. Not the return of the Occupy camp, but the inaugural CEO Sleepout, where 13 executives agreed to spend the night to raise money for Action for Children. The intrepid bosses were offered [...]
Rusal disrupts Metal Exchange warehouse plan March 28, 2014 THE LONDON Metal Exchange’s reforms suffered a major setback yesterday, after a court agreed with Russian aluminium producer Rusal that plans to cut warehouse queues were “unfair and unlawful”. The world’s largest metals exchange said it is taking legal advice on whether to appeal the London high court’s decision. The court ruled in favour of [...]
Battersea Power Station flats to be sold with £1m-plus price tag March 28, 2014 A SLICE of Battersea Power Station will set homebuyers back a cool £800,000 for a studio and £4m for a four bedroom flat, developers of the landmark building revealed today ahead of their launch in May. Battersea Power Station Development Company, which was set up by its Malaysian owners, plans to build 254 flats ranging [...]
Aldermore names Glyn Jones chair March 28, 2014 Challenger bank Aldermore yesterday named former Coutts and Standard Chartered banker Glyn Jones as its new chairman. Aldermore was founded in 2009 and has established itself as one of the more credible newcomers taking on high street players. Jones fills a void left after David Arculus stepped down as Aldermore chairman in July, leaving director [...]
Babcock slides on rights issue to buy Avincis March 28, 2014 BABCOCK International’s share price plummeted yesterday, after the engineering firm announced a £1.1bn rights issue to fund the acquisition of heavily indebted helicopter services company Avincis. The FTSE 100 company said it is buying Avincis for £920m from private equity firms Investindustrial and KKR, but will also assume Avincis’ debt of £705m. The deal will [...]
