Michael Page to boost exec pay April 17, 2012 The chief executive of recruiter Michael Page will see his base salary rise by 15 per cent for 2012, after receiving a more modest increase of three per cent for the 2011 financial year. The company’s annual report showed Steve Ingham’s basic salary rose to £392,000 last year, with additional bonuses and benefits boosting his [...]
Eurostar enjoys a traffic jump April 17, 2012 Channel tunnel train service Eurostar yesterday reported a seven per cent jump in sales for the first three months of the year, with passenger numbers up four per cent on a year ago to 2.24m. The firm said business travel had remained flat during the year but a boom in holidaymakers on its new routes [...]
Tube Lines staff will go on strike April 17, 2012 Maintenance staff working for Tube Lines will stage a 72 hour strike starting at 4pm next Tuesday in a dispute over pay, benefits and pensions parity with other workers on the London Underground. Employees at the Stratford Market depot and the Emergency Response Unit will walk out after they voted four-to-one in favour of strike [...]
Surprise jump in inflation as food prices rise April 17, 2012 SOARING food and clothes prices pushed inflation up in March, official data showed yesterday, reversing the recent downward trend and raising fears that consumers will be squeezed for even longer than expected. Consumer prices rose 3.5 per cent in the year to March, up from 3.4 per cent in February and defying predictions of rapidly [...]
Statistics frauds to be punished under new EU data proposals April 17, 2012 GOVERNMENTS that manipulate official statistics to falsely give a positive impression of their success could be punished under rules proposed yesterday by the European Commission. At the same time European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi called for improved financial sector statistics, arguing that better data is needed if the authorities are to properly promote stability [...]
High demand for Spanish debt auction April 17, 2012 SPAIN sold more bonds than expected yesterday as investors flocked to benefit from the high yields being offered on the debt. Germany provided more upbeat news with a positive economic sentiment index, and the Bank of Italy published a report showing a healthy outlook for the government’s finances. The Spanish government sold €3.2bn (£2.64bn) of [...]
Bank’s Posen calls for fiscal union in Europe April 17, 2012 MORE cross-border government spending would help solve the Eurozone crisis, the Bank of England’s Adam Posen said yesterday, blaming Germany’s reluctance to bail out other members for the chaos on bond markets. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member said EU authorities “should be thinking much more radically about fiscal union”. Posen suggested establishing a “counter-cyclical” [...]
The chancellor needs his economic policies to start working fast April 17, 2012 THE first three months of 2012 saw economic confidence among UK consumers grow, and last month we saw the YouGov HEAT (Household Economic Activity Tracker) at its highest level since June 2010. In March the index was up 10 points compared to December – was positive momentum building? Today sees the release of the interim [...]
More women in jobs as men lose out April 17, 2012 WOMEN in the workforce have strongly outperformed men through the financial crisis, according to analysis published today by a leading employment body. There are now 387,000 fewer men in work than there were at the start of the recession, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), compared with a decline of just [...]
Japan pledges extra $60bn in new bailout loans to the IMF April 17, 2012 JAPANESE finance minister Jun Azumi yesterday announced that Japan would provide $60bn (£37bn) in loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid renewed concerns about Europe’s debt woes, a move that it hopes will encourage other countries to contribute. Finance ministers from the G20 group of major economies will meet this week in Washington to [...]
