Liberty House saves Scottish jobs and promises to create more after buying Britain’s only aluminium smelter December 19, 2016 The Scottish economy received a £330m boost today after steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta agreed to buy Britain's last remaining aluminium smelter. Liberty House and Simec – both part of the GFG Alliance – agreed to buy the hydro-powered plant in Fort William from Rio Tinto, safeguarding 170 jobs and promising to directly generate 300 more. Read more: Liberty [...]
Record levels of IT investment in 2017? You can bank on it, says report December 19, 2016 The banking sector will up its IT spend to an all-time high in 2017 as the gap between tech-savvy and Luddite lenders widens, according to a report released today. Embracing data and open banking are top priorities for banks the report by consultants Temenos and Capgemini revealed. The focus on technology comes a week after it was [...]
London to be cloaked in fog tomorrow says Met Office and a London White Christmas doesn’t look likely December 18, 2016 Dense fog will descend on London tomorrow, hampering efforts to either get into the capital for work or get away from it for the Christmas holidays. Today, fog stubbornly held its ground leading to the capital's airports warning of flight delays and cancellations – it was the second day those looking to make an early [...]
KPMG boss: Let’s get my successor in place then it’s time to shoot for the global job December 18, 2016 KPMG’s UK boss will throw his hat in the ring for the firm’s global top job, with winning back public trust in business at the top his to-do list. Simon Collins surprised fellow partners during the firm's annual conference in December by revealing he would not be seeking re-election as the UK chairman. And speaking to [...]
Scotland to reveal plans of how it will stay in the European Single Market December 18, 2016 Scotland will outline how it will meet its top priority of staying in the European Single Market in plans to be published this week. Concerns linger that Prime Minister Theresa May will seek a so-called hard Brexit when triggering Article 50 prior to next March as planned – a policy that would put controlling Britain's immigration [...]
Growth in revenues is good but it’s even better if you look more carefully, says KPMG boss December 16, 2016 KPMG said its annual results proved it had moved beyond simply being a Big Four beancounter as it joined competitors in smashing through the £2bn revenue barrier. The UK arm, based in Canary Wharf, is the last to announce its annual return, reporting performance for the 12 months to the end of September. EY's UK business reported revenues [...]
Just over a billion quid: Regulator estimates the cost to deliver minimum broadband levels to 1.4m homes December 16, 2016 Regulators say at least £1.1bn needs to be spent on Britain's telecoms infrastructure to provide a "decent" level of broadband to the more than 1.4m homes in the UK that are currently forced to go without it. Ofcom today set out a series of proposals to the government on how it can deliver on its promise [...]
Revealed: The best and worst 4G operators in London December 16, 2016 Mobile signal. It's a constant source of frustration and debate among friends and colleagues – and conversations often centre on which operator is worst. And let's be honest, when that emblem in the top corner of our phone turns from 4G to "E" or "GPRS", our hearts sigh. "How can it be there is no coverage when I'm in the middle [...]
Payments regulator sets out vision for industry-wide approach to protect consumers December 16, 2016 Financial regulators have promised to stamp out payment scams which have cost Britons hundreds of millions of pounds. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), a special branch of the Financial Conduct Authority that focuses on banking payments, said today the financial services sector needs to do more to protect consumers. "In a short space of time [...]
A £17m paper trade: Johnston Press sells 13 East Anglia titles as part of debt reduction strategy December 16, 2016 The owner of the i newspaper has flogged 13 of its print titles in a "landmark" deal that will raise £17m. Johnston Press confirmed it will sell its East Anglia titles to Iliffe Media Limited having previously said it was in a late-stage discussions over the sale in November. Read more: Struggling newspaper group Johnston Press [...]
