Business can help offset UK consumer dip April 17, 2011 MISERY on the British high street will be further confirmed by this week’s official retail sales data, economists expect, with attention turning to business investment to offset the slump in consumer spending. Business investment will increase by 12 per cent this year and by a further 14 per cent in 2012, the Ernst and Young [...]
Pay growth still sluggish in UK manufacturing April 17, 2011 WAGE growth remains stagnant and well below current levels of consumer price inflation, manufacturers’ group EEF announced today. Average pay settlements came in at 2.4 per cent for the three months to March, the same figure as recorded a month earlier. “Almost four in five settlements are at three per cent or less,” according to [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: WILL THE SLUMP IN THE RETAIL SECTOR CONTINUE? April 17, 2011 RICHARD LIM | BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM “We saw the worst high street sales for 16 years in our survey for March, and I expect the Office for National Statistics data to show a similar picture. There was definitely an impact from Easter falling later this year, but the size of the fall in sales was [...]
Dividends hit £15bn as FTSE ups payouts April 17, 2011 UK dividends soared by an underlying 7.9 per cent to £15bn in the first quarter of 2011, according to a survey published today. The rise represents a £1.4bn lift compared with the same period last year and the largest quarterly growth for three years. The strong first quarter means dividend experts Capita Registrars, who carried [...]
City pays as much tax as all of Scotland April 17, 2011 WORKERS in the Square Mile contributed £11bn to the public purse last year through income tax and national insurance, according to research. In the tax year 2010/2011 the amount of income tax and NI contributions paid by staff working in the City was the equivalent to the tax paid by the entire Scottish workforce (£11bn). [...]
Candy flat sells for £136m April 17, 2011 THE CANDY brothers have sold one of the penthouse suites in the One Hyde Park development for a record £136.4m, documents lodged with the Land Registry show. The anonymous buyer, under the guise of a British Virgin Islands-registered company and a Swiss private bank account, bought the three-floor apartment plus parking spaces and a wine [...]
City job creation is helping drive UK recovery April 17, 2011 When it comes to generating growth and reducing the budget deficit, job creation is unquestionably the best economic policy. Increasing employment across all sectors and regions of the economy is essential for the wider recovery. Of course, creating jobs at a time of austerity measures is easier said than done. But last week’s ONS figures [...]
Reckitt Benckiser to be sued for £89m over supply of Gaviscon April 17, 2011 THE health authorities are suing Reckitt Benckiser for £89m over the supply of its heartburn medicine Gaviscon, the company said yesterday. “We will be vigorously defending it [the lawsuit],” a Reckitt spokeswoman said. In October, Reckitt was fined £10.2m by the Office of Fair Trading after admitting abuse of its dominant position in Britain for [...]
Mace wins contract to build London’s cable car April 17, 2011 BUILDERS will start work on a cable car across the Thames during the summer, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson confirmed today. Mace, the construction group that built the London Eye, will lead the work on the route linking Greenwich to the Royal Victoria Docks that is set to cost more than £40m. Mace will [...]
888 hit as US cracks down April 17, 2011 ONLINE casino gaming firm 888.com has denied a US crackdown on internet poker sites will harm it, following a turbulent week for the company which saw the departure of its chief executive, chairman and its merger talks with Ladbrokes end in tatters. The firm said the suspension of its operations in the US since 2006 [...]
