Who says green has to mean dull? November 11, 2013 The powerful and attractive new Porsche Panamera is a vast improvement on first generation hybrids PORSCHE has been selling its hybrid Panamera since 2011 but this is its first plug-in car. Its predecessor, like other first generation hybrids, had an absurdly limited electric-only range of just two miles, which meant its hybrid components only served [...]
Not convinced? November 11, 2013 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… BMW ActiveHybrid7 PRICE: £69,295 0-62MPH: 5.7 secs TOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 158g/km MPG COMBINED: 41.5mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four stars PERFORMANCE Four stars PRACTICALITY Four stars VALUE FOR MONEY Four stars MERCEDES S-CLASS HYBRID PRICE: £69,650 0-62MPH: 6.8 secs TOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 147g/km MPG COMBINED: 44.8mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four stars PERFORMANCE [...]
London’s got talent: Capital biggest employer of highly-skilled individuals November 11, 2013 The capital beats New York to top global league table as the biggest employer of highly-skilled individuals LONDON is the best city in the world for jobs in the knowledge economy, a report out today shows, confirming the capital’s status as a global talent magnet. The capital employs 1.5m people in highly-skilled sectors such as [...]
BT defends £897m deal for Champions League rights November 11, 2013 THE BATTLE between Sky and BT for dominance in televised sport came to a head this weekend with the surprise announcement that Champions League matches will be shown exclusively on BT Sport from 2015 as part of a £900m investment by the telecoms giant. New chief executive Gavin Patterson defended the huge price tag, more [...]
Fastest growth on record for England’s businesses November 11, 2013 A MAJOR survey of English firms recorded record growth across the country during October, suggesting that the economy’s recent swing back to growth continued into the start of the fourth quarter. Lloyds’ regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for last month found businesses reporting the fastest increase in business activity seen since the survey began in [...]
Good jobs: On that key measure, London is the world’s top city November 11, 2013 LONDON is a global city, and together with a handful of other ultra-successful urban centres worldwide, the closest we have today to the ancient Phoenician and Greek city-states. Successful, open-minded, commercial cities have always attracted the best and brightest, something that was just as true in the Mediterranean in 600BC as it was in early [...]
Firms brimming with optimism for year ahead November 11, 2013 OUTPUT and optimism are on the rise among UK businesses, suggesting that growth will strengthen further in 2014, according to an international accountancy firm. BDO’s latest optimism index, released today, shows particularly strong confidence among manufacturers, but with positive sentiment growing in the services sector too. The headline figure of the index reached 101.7 last [...]
Banks say over 2,000 applied for Help to Buy November 11, 2013 HALIFAX and RBS reported strong interest in the first phase of the government’s Help To Buy scheme this morning, saying they had received more than 2,000 applications in the first month of the programme. Halifax recorded 1,309 applications under the scheme in its first month, while state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland also said today it [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 11 November 2013 November 11, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Fears over abuses in metals markets Britain’s parliamentary financial watchdog has urged regulators to probe potential abuses in metals markets as deeply as they are investigating the scandals over foreign exchange and Libor benchmark interest rates. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, told the Financial Times that MPs were conscious of [...]
Insurer RSA to launch review of its Irish unit November 11, 2013 INSURER RSA has launched an independent review of its Irish business after uncovering problems that led it to issue a second profit warning and suspend three of its top managers last week. Investors were steeling themselves for a share price fall today after the FTSE 100 firm revealed after markets closed on Friday that it [...]