Family incomes rise by £16 per week in boost to living standards April 1, 2015 Living standards are on the up, with the average family benefiting from an extra £16 in disposable income in February, according to today’s income tracker from Asda. The average household had £184 to spend, after budgeting for necessities. That is up 9.2 per cent on the year. The 3.3 per cent fall in the cost of [...]
BT names the date for EE vote April 1, 2015 BT shareholders will be asked to approve the £12.5bn acquisition of mobile network EE at a general meeting on 30 April. Shareholders are being invited to the meeting at Old Billingsgate at 10am. A simple majority is all that is required for the takeover to go ahead, although it is still subject to heavy scrutiny [...]
Prime residential rents in luxury London apartments hit their highest in three years April 1, 2015 London’s prime residential rents have risen to their highest level in three years thanks to the improving economy and record employment levels, research out yesterday claims. Although growth in the capital slowed to just 0.5 per cent in the three months to the end of December, rents rose 3.3 per cent year-on-year – the highest [...]
London labour market skills gap continues as red tape hinders overseas hiring April 1, 2015 London businesses are struggling to recruit people with the right skills and have called for cuts to red tape to make it easier to employ from abroad. Survey figures released today by the London Chambers of Commerce show that 54 per cent of firms looking to recruit over the past three months had difficulties, up [...]
Roll up, roll up for this summer’s city of London Festival extravaganza April 1, 2015 The City of London Festival returns between 22 June-10 July, and streets of the Square Mile will reverberate to the sound of singing and music. Festival-goers will be able to take a Wren Church Marathon challenge with morn-to-midnight choral performances; learn How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying from a 1960’s musical featuring Nick [...]
Revenues move up at FirstGroup April 1, 2015 BUS AND rail company FirstGroup chugged ahead with a positive trading update for 2015, despite a volatile 12 months, pushing shares up by 6.82 per cent, . The company’s financial year ending 31 March saw the loss of several rail contracts for which it bid. The firm’s top brass also suffered from instability, cycling through [...]
HSBC’s next headache is relocation, relocation, relocation April 1, 2015 If Douglas Flint had a tenner for every time he had been asked about the future location of HSBC’s headquarters, he’d have almost enough to pay its contribution to the bank levy by himself. Flint has many other things on his mind right now: the reputational fallout from the Swiss tax evasion affair, sluggish returns [...]
Export recovery lifts outlook for manufacturers April 1, 2015 THE UK’S manufacturing sector hit an eight-month high growth rate last month, a set of new data shows. A survey of private sector firms – Markit’s purchasing managers’ index – climbed to a score of 54.4 in March from February’s 54, according to figures released yesterday. Any score above 50 marks expansion, with higher figures [...]
Eurozone factories see growth but rebound lacks momentum April 1, 2015 MANUFACTURING sector growth in the Eurozone reached a 10-month high in March, adding to evidence that the economy is recovering from a slowdown late last year. A survey of private sector firms – Markit’s purchasing managers’ index – increased to a score of 52.2 from 51.9 in February, according to data released yesterday. While figures [...]
London takes a Leap into future April 1, 2015 Although three-quarters of the people attending last night’s Leap 100 event at Mischon de Reya believe that “British culture is suspicious of corporate ambition,” Eileen Burbidge, Partner of Passion Capital, was optimistic about fintech being a shining light to change public perception of UK business. Burbidge, who has been dubbed the Queen of Silicon [...]
