Time running short for deal to extend West Coast rail contract December 2, 2012 VIRGIN Trains and the Department for Transport are set to finally sign a deal to give the rail operator a temporary extension to its West Coast Main Line franchise this week. The franchise contract is due to run out on Sunday, and both sides have agreed in principle that Virgin can run the route for [...]
Happy Bday SMS! Txts turn 20 2day but less msgs being sent December 2, 2012 TWENTY years ago today the first text message – “Merry Christmas” – was sent. The greeting was sent by Neil Papworth, an engineer working for Sema Group in the UK and a member of a team developing SMS software for Vodafone. Today, upwards of seven trillion text messages are sent every year, more than 200,000 [...]
Santa Clauses coming to town December 2, 2012 MORE than 2000 runners in Santa fancy dress took to Battersea Park on Saturday morning for the annual London Santa Run. The festive joggers braved near-freezing temperatures to run 6km and raise money for Disability Snowsport UK, a charity that helps people with disabilities take part in winter sports holidays. Santa runs also took place [...]
Our City Mo Bro winner revealed December 2, 2012 AT the start of last month, The Capitalist challenged readers to send in their scariest and hairiest upper lip specimens to take part in City A.M’s very own Movember contest. The month is now up and teams from all over the City have embraced the Movember spirit of growth and awareness, sporting all sorts of [...]
Roll up to cheer the firms back from the brink December 2, 2012 ROLL up, roll up to the Bloomsbury Big Top. The central London circus tent was the venue for the Institute for Turnaround (IFT) annual awards do. The ceremony recognises companies that have faced financial difficulties but have transformed their businesses to come out stronger than before. Topping the winners’ list was Kate Swann for her [...]
London house prices slide as gloom sets in December 2, 2012 GREATER London saw its first house price fall in a year in November, new data has revealed this morning. This came as forecasts, also published today, saw the UK housing market taking another two years to recover to its pre-crisis peak, before staying stuck in the so-called new normal of weaker house price growth for [...]
Business optimism holds steady despite fourth quarter worries December 2, 2012 BUSINESS sentiment held onto its October gains in November, according to a survey out today, despite worries the economy will post negative growth in the fourth quarter. Some 42 per cent of firms said they were more optimistic about the UK economy in November than they had been three months before, the Lloyds Business Barometer [...]
Jobs market set to continue growth December 2, 2012 The jobs market will continue to grow up to the end of 2012, according to survey data out this morning, despite continued weakness in the UK economy. The Reed Jobs Index hit 140 in November, the recruiter said, edging up from 139 in October, and a five-month high – 100 represents the situation in December [...]
Londoners stay in as UK goes out December 2, 2012 Londoners ate and drunk out much less in the autumn, Deloitte said today, while consumers across the rest of the country went out more frequently. On average, Londoners went out for a drink, or to eat, 25.7 times per month in October, according to data from Deloitte, down from 31.1 times in the July. But [...]
Chinese factory recovery on the up in November December 2, 2012 RECOVERY in the Chinese manufacturing sector sped up in November, according to official statistics out yesterday, though growth was still only moderate. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a prominent business survey – hit 50.6 in November, a seven-month high, and up from 50.2 in October. But the figure was still only slightly [...]
