BT suffers huge broadband failure October 3, 2011 A power failure at a major exchange in Birmingham caused problems for hundreds of thousands of BT Broadband customers across the UK yesterday. The firm said the “brief outage” would have lasted would have lasted for “little more than an hour” and had now been restored.
US car sales enjoy a jump start after supply issues October 3, 2011 SOME of the biggest carmakers in the United States have reported sales jumps of at least 20 per cent during September, in a sign that consumers have returned as vehicle inventories have risen after being crimped by the March earthquake in Japan. General Motors, the world’s biggest carmaker, said yesterday its sales were driven by [...]
TURNOVER RISES AT AGENT PROVOCATEUR October 3, 2011 Agent Provocateur, the lingerie firm backed by private equity giant 3i, said yesterday that sales rose eight per cent to £26.7m for the year to 26 March. Operating profit was £1.33m. The brand, famed for its risque lingerie, now has 55 outlets around the world and has opened stories in Moscow and Beirut this year. [...]
NEXT LORD MAYOR SETS OUT A CITY MANIFESTO October 3, 2011 ALL CHANGE in the Lord Mayor’s office, as alderman David Wootton was yesterday elected the 684th Lord Mayor of the City of London at the Guildhall. The Lord Mayor Elect, as Wootton will be known until he takes office on 11 November, used his election day to declare that the theme of his year in [...]
UK and US rebound in manufacturing… October 3, 2011 MANUFACTURING took a surprise upturn in the UK and US in September, according to purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) for the sector, released yesterday. In the UK the index rose from 49.4 in August to 51.1 last month, said Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). Any figure above 50 indicates economic expansion. [...]
…yet BRICs and Eurozone suffer a factory slump October 3, 2011 NEW orders from factories in the Eurozone shrank at their fastest pace since mid-2009 last month, as weak manufacturing figures from across the world stoked fears of another recession. Markit’s Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 48.5 in September, down from 49 in August. All figures below 50 point to economic contraction. [...]
Key City jobs hit last month October 3, 2011 JOBS in banking and insurance plummeted in September, according to Reed recruitment agents. Yet the Reed job index, released this morning, also contained more positive news for the City, with jobs in other financial services recovering slightly from a fall in August. Elsewhere in the economy, manufacturing jobs also bounced back to show strong growth. [...]
Gold-related groups might bring markets to life October 3, 2011 GOLD has been one of the few winners of the recent downturn because of its safe haven status, so it should come as no surprise that companies involved in the production of the precious metal should be first in the queue to bring a ray of sunshine to the nearly dormant new issues markets. Polymetal, [...]
DO YOU THINK THE MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD BE REDUCED TO ENCOURAGE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT? October 3, 2011 ALEX TROTTER | HAYWARDS AVIATION “I think that improving education would be a better way to encourage youth employment rather than focusing on the minimum wage. I don’t necessarily think that changing it will affect youth unemployment.” PETE GODFREY | JRP UNDERWRITING “If the minimum wage were reduced, there’s a danger that a lot of [...]
UK banking fees slump to 2002 depths October 3, 2011 UK investment banks have witnessed their worst year for fee revenue since 2002 this year, thanks to the grim economy and markets, data from Dealogic showed yesterday. The UK’s banks generated just $2.5bn (£1.6bn) of revenue in the past nine months, slashing their share of the global market to only 4.6 per cent, almost half [...]
