Generation E September 10, 2012 A NEW generation of entrepreneurs will lift the UK out of its devastating economic recession, according to a report out this morning by a leading educational society. The proportion of surveyed twenty-somethings who want to start their own business rocketed from 17 per cent in 1998 to 29 per cent in 2010, the research shows. [...]
Cable plans public bank to offer business loans September 10, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable will today outline plans for a government-backed corporate lender, as part of his attempt to reignite the coalition’s support for British industry. Cable will say in a speech at Imperial College that the smaller “challenger banks” such as Co-operative and Aldermore could be employed to operate the new business bank, though [...]
Three reasons why the UK economy will eventually improve September 10, 2012 GLASSES can be half-empty – but they can also be half-full. Amid all the gloom, and the latest useless proposals for an industrial policy from Vince Cable, the business secretary, here are, for once, three reasons for moderate optimism about the state of our post-Olympic nation. The first is that the UK has become a [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 10, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Risky groups face outsourcing ban The performance of troubled Olympics contractor G4S will be reviewed “very carefully”, the Cabinet Office has warned, in a shake-up of outsourcing contracts across government that has already seen two IT companies struck off its list for future tenders. The department’s decision to look at G4S’s record comes [...]
Cable’s wish list September 10, 2012 ■ BUSINESS BANK Business secretary Vince Cable will today announce that he is looking to set up a government-backed lender for firms that find it difficult to obtain funding in the private sector. The scale and model are yet to be decided, but it could operate through one of the smaller “challenger banks” or non-bank [...]
Chinese vice president disappears September 10, 2012 ■ Xi Jinping, widely seen as China’s leader-in-waiting, has mysteriously disappeared, just weeks before the 18th Communist Party congress, where President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao will step down. He was last seen in public on 1 September, but has cancelled at least four meetings since then, sparking a flurry of speculation over his [...]
Rise in labour disputes September 10, 2012 ■ Government measures that encourage public bodies to transfer jobs to private sector providers have led to a substantial rise in the number of costly employment tribunals, a law firm said yesterday. Tribunals relating to TUPE regulations – which ensure workers retain existing benefits if their jobs are transferred to a new employer – increased [...]
Huawei to put £1.2bn into UK September 10, 2012 ■ Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is planning to invest some £1.2bn into the UK, creating at least 700 jobs on the way. Huawei, which is privately owned by its employees, a rarity in China, will invest around £600m directly and spend about £600m on procurement related to the investment, Sky News reported.
Office of Fair Trading sets tougher fines September 10, 2012 THE OFFICE of Fair Trading has tripled the amount it can fine businesses found breaching competition law, the watchdog said yesterday. The OFT can now impose a penalty of up to 30 per cent of a firm’s relevant turnover in standard cases, up from 10 per cent, as it tries to move on from a [...]
New Barclays boss Jenkins vows to review every unit in the bank September 10, 2012 NEW BARCLAYS boss Antony Jenkins yesterday committed himself to keeping the universal banking model and maintaining a strong investment bank, but told analysts that every individual unit would need to prove its worth or could be scrapped. His tough review of the bank’s operations will be “granular and comprehensive” and will see units without a [...]
