Energy providers: How easy is it to switch? September 25, 2013 CHANGING energy supplier is not an easy process, it can often take ample amounts of patience and perseverance, but consumers could all save money if they decided to change more often. As Chris Huhne said in 2011, “We should be switching if we’re not on the cheapest tariff.” Which? this week reported that UK consumers [...]
Q and A: What determines our gas and electricity bills? September 25, 2013 Q My electricity bills seem pretty steep. Are they higher in the UK than elsewhere? A In short – not really. Compared to the 15 countries that made up the European Union prior to the 2004 accession (known as the EU15), the UK had the fourth lowest prices in 2012 – when including taxes that [...]
HS2 under fire amid claims of hidden expense September 25, 2013 THE HIGH Speed 2 project will not fix the capacity problems on Britain’s rail network, a research paper out today claims. The Taxpayers Alliance (TPA) argues that putting longer trains on the existing West Coast Main Line would be a better value way to boost space on the route. It argues that there has been [...]
Network Rail chief to help get High Speed 2 plan back on track September 25, 2013 HIGH SPEED 2 has hired the outgoing head of Network Rail to try and steer the project through its latest political problems. Sir David Higgins, who led the Olympic Delivery Authority until he joined Network Rail in 2011, will join HS2 Limited for one day a week from January as he takes the chairmanship from [...]
UK offshoring may reverse as wage gap falls September 25, 2013 WITH the gulf in wages between the world’s advanced and developing economies getting smaller, a new report suggests that UK companies could re-shore some operations which were moved offshore. Research released today by PwC suggests that within two decades, wages in emerging economies will make up a huge amount of ground, while those in developed [...]
Top regulator to keep its eye on hedgie rate risk September 25, 2013 THE BANK of England’s new superregulator will keep a close eye on potential vulnerabilities at hedge funds and in the UK housing market, it said yesterday, despite playing down the risk of a housing bubble. Hedge funds may be particularly vulnerable to sharp upward movements in long-term interest rates, the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) [...]
Inside Track: More than one elephant in the Royal Mail sorting room September 25, 2013 IT’S NOT hard to identify the biggest of the elephantine threats to Royal Mail’s imminent stock market listing, which heralds the most contentious privatisation since the 1980s. With unions poised to ballot members over the prospect of industrial action within weeks, the prospect of a multi-day walkout at the precise time that the company’s shares [...]
British retail sales climb to a 15-month high September 25, 2013 THE BRITISH retail sector’s recovery strengthened at the start of this month, with a leading industry survey pointing to the fastest sales growth since June last year. Nearly half – 46 per cent – of shops surveyed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that sales were higher than at the same point last [...]
A dozen mid-sized lenders failing on PPI redress claims September 25, 2013 MID-SIZED finance firms are making mistakes most of the time when they reject PPI compensation claims, according to a watchdog review published yesterday. One firm’s processes are so bad the City regulator has referred it to its enforcement division, which could see it punished. The Financial Conduct Authority reviewed 18 medium-sized firms like banks and [...]
Gap between male and female employment continues to fall September 25, 2013 THE past four decades have seen a dramatic rise in the number of women in work and a fall in the percentage of men. Data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that between April and June 2013 around 67 per cent of women aged 16 to 64 were in work, compared [...]
