The Saints go marching on to profitability: Southampton’s David Bence is heading for a sustainable business model March 30, 2015 Those who read the business press as opposed to only the sports pages might have already adjusted themselves to the fact that Premier League football clubs can occasionally make profits, especially now that new financial fair play rules have begun to constrain the wage demands of the top players. But the story of Southampton Football [...]
Vodafone teams up with Visa and Carta Worldwide to offer contactless payments to Android mobile users March 30, 2015 Vodafone is getting into the business of contactless payments by allowing its customers to add bank cards to their digital wallets in the coming months it announced yesterday. The telecoms giant has teamed up with Visa and Carta Worldwide to allow European customers with Android smartphones to pay for services at contactless pay points via [...]
Watchdog fines Kenneth Carver £35,000 for part in Logica insider trading scheme March 30, 2015 Former accountant Kenneth Carver was yesterday fined £35,212 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for his part in the Logica insider trading scheme. Carver is a family friend of recently imprisoned Ryan Willmott who pleaded guilty to three counts of insider trading during his time as a financial planning and group reporting manager for IT [...]
Moulton attacks MPs on City Link March 30, 2015 VETERAN venture capitalist Jon Moulton yesterday hit back at MPs who criticised the collapse of delivery firm City Link as acting “outside the normal rules of natural justice”. Moulton runs Better Capital, the private equity firm that owned City Link, which collapsed last Christmas. In a letter to MPs – sent as parliament was dissolved [...]
Fulham Shore gobbles up a slice of cult pizza chain Franco Manca for £27.5m March 30, 2015 FRANCO Manca, the pizza chain famed for its slow-rise sourdough base, has been gobbled up by an Aim-listed leisure group run by former Pizza Express boss David Page. The Fulham Shore, which also owns the Real Greek chain, is paying £27.5m to Franco Manca’s owner Rocca, taking control of all 10 sites including its original [...]
PPI complaints to banks fall but card anger rises March 30, 2015 PAYMENT protection insurance (PPI) complaints are dropping away, and now account for fewer than half of all complaints to banks, the City watchdog said yesterday. Banks received 2.18m complaints from July to December 2014, a fall of 14 per cent on the same period of 2013. Of those, 1.06m were still PPI complaints – making [...]
Eastern European countries see rapid rise in hourly labour costs March 30, 2015 EASTERN European countries have seen a surge in hourly labour costs, according to new figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Commission. Hourly labour costs include wages as well as non-wage costs such as employers’ social contributions. Comparing 2014 with 2013, Poland’s hourly labour costs climbed 3.5 per cent. In Romania they [...]
Italians grow in confidence March 30, 2015 ITALY’S economy could be about to turn around after a surge in confidence among firms and consumers. A consumer confidence index yesterday climbed to a score of 110.9 in March from 107.7 last month. Meanwhile, an index representing business confidence increased to a score of 103 from 97.5 – above the long-term average of 98.5. [...]
German prices start increasing March 30, 2015 INFLATION has rebounded in Germany – the Eurozone’s biggest economy – new figures show. Annual inflation was 0.1 per cent in March, according to official estimates published yesterday, up from minus 0.1 per cent in February and minus 0.5 per cent in January. However, some economists have warned it could fall back into negative territory [...]
US set to rebound after poor weather March 30, 2015 CONSUMER spending in the US barely rose in February as households opted to save the extra cash from cheaper petrol prices. The reluctance to spend took the US savings rate to 5.8 per cent, its highest level for two years. Personal incomes rose by 0.4 per cent in February compared to the previous month, according [...]
