Reform of pensions may be insufficient, warns Lord Hutton December 4, 2011 THE government could have to make further cuts to public sector pensions because the outlook for the British economy has worsened, Lord Hutton, the former Labour minister, warned yesterday. Hutton, who was work and pensions secretary in Gordon Brown’s government, said the calculations contained in his recently-published review of public sector pensions now appeared “too [...]
Aviva mulls selling off part of UK annuity book to bolster capital base December 4, 2011 AVIVA, the UK’s biggest insurer, is considering selling off part of its portfolio of UK annuities to strengthen its balance sheet after a fall in its regulatory capital surplus due to volatile stock and bond markets over recent months. Aviva is the UK’s biggest provider of individual annuities with a 23 per cent market share, [...]
Olympic Media Buzz LONDON 2012 PARTNERS December 4, 2011 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 23 November to Wednesday 30 November. Criticism [...]
Airbus deal scuppers 800 jobs December 4, 2011 Engineering firm GKN’s plan to create 800 jobs in Bristol has been scuppered after it lost a contract to build parts for a new Airbus jet. GKN had been favourite to win the contract to make wing components for Airbus’s revamped A320 at its Filton plant. But despite frantic last-minute talks between GKN and Airbus, [...]
Dyson warns China over patents December 4, 2011 Billionaire inventor Sir James Dyson has warned China that it risks being expelled from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over copyright breaches including rip-offs of his famed inventions. The inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner and blade hand dryer is a member of the Prime Minister’s business advisory group. He issued the warning as executives [...]
Former Tesco boss cuts till rolls December 4, 2011 Lord MacLaurin, the former chief executive and chairman of Tesco, is investing in a British start-up championing paper-less receipts. MacLaurin, who helped pioneer Tesco’s Clubcard, is backing Paperless Receipts, which sends digital receipts to personalised websites.
Iran: oil price could soar to $250-a-barrel December 4, 2011 IRAN yesterday warned the West that any move to block its oil exports would more than double crude prices with devastating consequences on a fragile global economy. “As soon as such an issue is raised seriously the oil price would soar to above $250 (£160) a barrel,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast (pictured below) said [...]
Petrol congress meets amid Middle East unrest December 4, 2011 THE TWENTIETH World Petroleum Congress kicks off in the Qatari capital of Doha this week, aiming to boost dialogue among stakeholders in the petroleum industry and beyond. It is the first time the triennial event has ever been held in the Middle East. It could not have come to the region at a more crucial [...]
Shell signs deal to develop £4bn petrochemical complex in Qatar December 4, 2011 ROYAL Dutch Shell signed a deal with Qatar yesterday to develop a $6.4bn (£4.1bn) petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan in the Gulf Arab state. Qatar’s energy minister, Mohammed al-Sada, and Shell’s chief executive Peter Voser signed the heads of agreement in the Qatari capital Doha. The deal is the latest in a series of Middle [...]
Weak Europe knocks firms in the capital December 4, 2011 OPTIMISM about the state of the economy has plummeted among London’s businesses, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) bi-yearly business prospects survey showed today. Most firms – 55 per cent – cited the threat of a double-dip recession over the next year as their major concern. Only 13 per cent of firms in the capital [...]
