Last minute climate pact saves blushes December 11, 2011 POLITICIANS agreed a last minute pact yesterday to force the world’s biggest polluting countries to take action on greenhouse gas emissions – yet activists remain unimpressed, while businesses appear indifferent to the developments. A survey from PwC showed that indecision at international climate summits has paled in comparison with the effects on businesses from other [...]
Panel: S&P right to consider downgrades December 11, 2011 RATING agency Standard & Poor’s was “completely right” to put 15 of the Eurozone’s economies on credit watch for a possible downgrade, according to 54 per cent of our Voice of the City Panel, run in association with PoliticsHome.com. More than two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents also said they find the opinions of [...]
SINGAPORE TYCOON TO PITCH FOR FULHAM’S HISTORIC TOWN HALL December 11, 2011 FORGET the West End, the eyes of the property world will tomorrow be fixed on Fulham, when the council decides the fate of its historic town hall. The tender to develop the Grade II-listed site, which dates back to 1888, has been narrowed to a list of three developers – one retail, one residential and [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK December 11, 2011 BARCLAYS boss Bob Diamond last week revealed he encouraged up to 40 of his staff he considered “too ostentatious” to find other jobs. Something of a U-turn from the firm where a group of bankers famously spent £44,000 in the restaurant Petrus in 2001, but no matter – the point is that the six European [...]
Germans eye stake in UK’s air controller December 11, 2011 GERMAN air traffic controller Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is preparing to make a bid for the government’s stake in British equivalent Nats, according to reports. The state-owned German business is believed to have approached London investment banks earlier this month about advising on a deal to acquire the government’s 49 per cent stake in Nats, which [...]
Prices soar for basic services on board the no-frills Ryanair December 11, 2011 FAMILIES are most likely to be affected by Ryanair’s hiked prices next year as the Irish airline prepares to increase charges for many of its passenger services as of 15 December. Under the new rules, a 15kg bag checked in at the airport, without being pre-booked, will cost the customer £100 in peak season (June [...]
Sir Stelios set to launch car club with founder of lastminute.com December 11, 2011 EASYJET’S Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has joined forces with lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman to launch a new car-sharing business. The Car Club website will allow car owners to rent out their cars when they are not using them, while also allowing hirers to rent cars closer to home at potentially cheaper prices than a conventional car [...]
Bank weighs up new global finance rules December 11, 2011 THE THREAT to financial stability from rising global capital flows could see regulators call for a new “rules-based system of global economic management”, according to papers released this morning by the Bank of England. The Bank’s latest financial stability paper explores a “fundamental overhaul of the International Monetary and Financial System (IMFS)”, including the possibility [...]
Retailers add cheer to gloomy high st December 11, 2011 DEPARTMENT store John Lewis has offered some hope to the ongoing high street gloom by revealing record sales last week as the Christmas shopping season gained momentum. Sales rose by two per cent to £123.5 in the week to December 10, rising 12.5 per cent on a two-year basis as customers snapped up winter clothes [...]
Plan B would risk another recession, coalition is told December 11, 2011 A “PLAN B” involving higher government spending would risk pushing the UK into another recession, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) will argue today. The costs of servicing even greater government debt levels would prompt higher taxes towards the end of the parliamentary term, the think tank will warn chancellor George Osborne. “We must resist [...]
