Barclays to end its sponsorship of Boris Bikes December 10, 2013 BARCLAYS will not renew its sponsorship of the London bicycle hire scheme when it ends in 2015, it confirmed last night. The bank signed a deal worth £50m to sponsor the bikes, named colloquially after London mayor Boris Johnson, in 2010. But in a joint statement with Transport for London, Barclays said it will not [...]
Red faces at the fraud squad as anti-corruption case collapses December 10, 2013 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) suffered a major embarrassment yesterday when it was forced to drop an anti-corruption case after one witness changed his evidence and two others refused to attend trial in the UK. The SFO had earlier gone to court against Victor Dahdaleh, an international businessman and donor to the Labour Party, accusing [...]
UK momentum to continue into fourth quarter December 10, 2013 THE BRITISH economy is still growing at the robust pace set during the third quarter of the year, as official statistics record another boost to industrial production. A forecast released by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) suggests that the British economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the three months to [...]
Stricter rules on partnerships will hit firm’s junior members December 10, 2013 MINISTERS yesterday laid out stricter rules to regulate company partnerships, which critics say will hit junior partners the most. The rules, introduced yesterday as part of the finance bill, will introduce stricter tests on who can be deemed a partner in a company to stop firms labelling employees as partners to cut down on income [...]
Draghi attacks Bank of England style plans for narrow policies December 10, 2013 MARIO Draghi revealed he disagrees with Mark Carney’s plan to tackle bubbles yesterday, laying out an alternative set of guidelines for central banking. Bank of England governor Carney has praised the range of tools he has been given to intervene in specific markets if he sees risks to financial stability and the wider economy. Carney [...]
Brand Index: Squeezed middle still unconvinced by economic upturn December 10, 2013 THE CHANCELLOR’S Autumn Statement, made last Thursday, was hailed in many quarters as a good day for George Osborne and for the government. But when we conducted an online focus group of people from the so-called “squeezed middle”, we found they are not yet feeling the benefits of growth. The picture they painted of their [...]
Government in U-turn on MoD outsource plan December 10, 2013 THE MINISTRY of Defence yesterday confirmed that it is shelving a scheme to privatise its equipment procurement arm, after it failed to attract enough interest. The MoD had spent £7.4m so far on plans to replace its inefficient procurement arm with a GoCo scheme, creating a government-owned, contractor-operated body, which it said would create better [...]
Think tank calls for less state intervention in energy market December 10, 2013 GOVERNMENT policies will push up customers’ energy bills, a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs warned yesterday. State intervention has “continuously failed to provide consumers with the best outcomes,” according to the research from the free market think tank. Policies such as a price freeze, suggested by Labour leader Ed Miliband, or a [...]
Prudential sets aggressive Asia growth targets December 10, 2013 PRUDENTIAL set out ambitious targets for growth in Asia yesterday, boosting investor confidence and sending its shares higher. The insurer told a shareholder conference it will target 15 per cent compound annual profit growth in its Asian life and asset management markets between 2010 and 2017. In addition, it is aiming to achieve £10bn of [...]
State pension to cost more than £400bn per year by the 2060s December 10, 2013 THE STATE pension bill is set to quadruple over the next 50 years, the Office for National Statistics warned yesterday, as Britons continue to live longer. The ONS predicts the bill will rise from £94bn per year currently to £438bn in 2062-63 – increasing from six per cent of GDP currently to 8.4 per cent. [...]
