The Friends of the Earth fracking ruling is exactly why Adland self-regulates January 9, 2017 If this newspaper made wild unsubstantiated claims, presented as fact, that fracking would purify the vilest depths of the Thames, or seep a cancer curing chemical into the water table, we’d rightly have questions to answer. So when Friends of the Earth (FoE) produce leaflets claiming that fracking could cause cancer, contaminate water supplies, increase [...]
A big year, but it won’t Trump 2016’s shocks January 6, 2017 2016's events made fools of most pundits, and looking back at my column exactly a year ago, I fared little better. True, I correctly said that Santander UK would re-engage in an effort to buy Royal Bank of Scotland's Williams & Glyn unit, but I was well wide of the mark arguing that the FTSE-100 [...]
Up for the cup: Sutton United bask in overdue return to spotlight January 5, 2017 Non-league Sutton United may be cast as extras in the FA Cup script but nearly 30 years after their last show-stopping third round performance the part-timers are busy rehearsing their lines for a long overdue encore. It was January 1989 when Sutton, playing as they are today in English football’s fifth tier, knocked out top-flight Coventry [...]
£30bn in the pipeline: This is the year UK firms will cut pension schemes loose January 4, 2017 Britain's companies will shift sky-rocketing pension liabilities from their balance sheets this year, experts have predicted. With defined benefit pension schemes at record year-end levels, 2017 will be year to de-risk and UK plc is keen to take advantage of the improved affordability of shifting scheme risk to the insurance, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Read more: As pension [...]
You’ve copper-be joking? Small business report reveals two-thirds of firms are on old-style connections January 4, 2017 The majority of Britain's small businesses are not using fibre broadband, a report by the telecoms regulator has revealed. Although speed and reliability of internet services were the two key issues facing the UK's smaller firms, 67 per cent of businesses are using a non-fibre fixed line ADSL connection, a study of over 1,500 firms commissioned by watchdog Ofcom found. [...]
Pension deficits hit a record year-end high as experts warn on implications January 3, 2017 Britain's pension gap almost doubled during 2016 to the highest ever year-end level, according to data released today. The aggregate deficit of defined benefit pension schemes leapt to £434bn, according to JLT Employee Benefits, up from £233bn, 12 months before. Although deficits have pared back from all-time highs of over £500bn in August, experts predicted bumper pension [...]
The FTSE 100 finished the year at another all-time high December 30, 2016 It's been another record-breaking day for the FTSE 100, which finished the year today at another all-time high. Britain's bluechip index rose to 7142.83 points, 0.3 per cent higher, after a last-minute rally before it closed on today's shortened trading day. The index has twice closed at record highs this week, finishing above 7,120 points yesterday [...]
Virgin Media boss is baffled by broadband windfall, saying it conflicts with Ofcom plans December 22, 2016 Virgin Media has hit back at news of a £440m broadband boost to the remote parts of Britain. The government announced today more money would be ploughed back into the country's telecoms infrastructure as a result of better than expected demand for superfast broadband in the hard to reach areas. The money is a rebate from [...]
Surprise broadband demand leads to an extra £440m of telecoms infrastructure investment December 22, 2016 Better than expected demand for fibre broadband in Britain's hard to reach areas has provided a £440m boost to the public purse. In 2013, the government launched its £1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project. The initiative included a series of aims culminating in ensuring 97 per cent of the UK's households could connect to superfast broadband by 2020. BT were [...]
Are you with Britain’s most complained about telecoms provider? December 20, 2016 The number of people complaining about their broadband service is on the rise, according to the regulator. There were 20 complaints for every 100,000 customers in the three months to the end of September, up from 15 in the previous quarter according to the latest complaint data from Ofcom. BT topped the naughty list with 36 complaints [...]