Industry welcomes EU green targets for 2030 January 22, 2014 BUSINESS GROUPS and the energy industry yesterday welcomed the EU’s new low-carbon and renewables targets for 2030, alongside guidelines for shale gas exploration. The EU as a whole must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 and renewable power must make up at least 27 per cent of the region’s energy mix. [...]
Growth puts the UK on track to beat its budget deficit target January 22, 2014 THE BUDGET deficit narrowed marginally during December this year, dropping by £2.1bn to £12.1bn, compared to the same month of 2012, suggesting that the Treasury may meet its target on public finances after many revisions. Public borrowing for the financial year up to December hit £96.1bn, falling by almost five per cent compared to 2012-13’s [...]
Vicky Pryce joins economists’ panel at Department of Business January 22, 2014 ECONOMIST Vicky Pryce was yesterday re-appointed to the panel of economists advising business secretary Vince Cable. Pryce, who also sits on City A.M.’s shadow monetary policy committee, was on the panel for a decade, beginning when she worked at the Department for Trade and Industry. She left the role in 2010 when her then-husband Chris Huhne [...]
Small firms told to borrow more to grow January 22, 2014 BANKS are back on the front foot this morning with a new campaign aimed at encouraging small firms to grow. After years of being told they are not lending freely enough, banks are now arguing small firms need to be more confident in applying for credit. The British Bankers’ Association’s (BBA) campaign argues 270,000 businesses [...]
Online sales boost Visa January 22, 2014 INTERNET sales soared 18 per cent in the last year in the UK, Visa Europe reported yesterday. That outpaced overall Visa spending which increased by nine per cent in the year to September 2013, to £445bn. Online payments accounted for £110bn of that total, the credit card firm said. Meanwhile contactless payments increased four-fold on the [...]
BAE boss says UAE talks will not be revived January 22, 2014 BAE SYSTEMS chief Ian King yesterday confirmed that collapsed talks to sell its Eurofighter Typhoon jets to the UAE would not be revived, but insisted the deal’s failure would not impact its ability to sell to other nations. King told reporters at a London event that the defence giant’s aircraft “met the UAE’s very exacting [...]
AstraZeneca gets shot in the arm as diabetes pill given green light January 22, 2014 PHARMA giant AstraZeneca got a boost yesterday as a new diabetes treatment was approved by European regulators. The Anglo-Swedish company announced at the end of last year that it is spending $4.1bn (£2.5bn) on buying out Bristol-Myers Squibb from the firms’ joint diabetes venture, describing it as “ a core strategic area” for growth. And [...]
Whitbread chairman Anthony Habgood to step down this year January 22, 2014 ANTHONY Habgood is to step down as chairman of Whitbread after eight years overseeing the Costa coffee owner’s rapid expansion. The FTSE 100 leisure group, which also owns Premier Inn and restaurants including Table Table, said yesterday that Habgood intends to leave later this year. Whitbread independent director Sir Ian Cheshire, who is also the [...]
Bernard Madoff suffers heart attack January 22, 2014 BERNARD Madoff was hospitalised last month for a heart attack, CNBC said yesterday. Madoff, 75, told CNBC in an email that he had since returned to the federal prison where he is serving a 150-year sentence for masterminding a massive Ponzi scheme that destroyed the lives of investors. Madoff also said that he suffers from [...]
Margins grow despite dip in WH Smith sales January 22, 2014 WH SMITH hailed a pick-up in trading across its travel outlets over Christmas and said it was confident of making further progress this year, despite a continued decline in likefor-like sales. In what has become a long-running theme, the retailer said like-for-like sales fell four per cent in the 20 weeks to 18 January but [...]
