July Budget 2015: Pressure mounts on government to back a living wage July 5, 2015 Raising the minimum wage to the so-called “living wage” would lift 6m people out of poverty and generate more than £4bn of additional revenue, according to a new report out today from KPMG. The living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation charity, is £7.85 per hour nationally and £9.15 in London. The national [...]
O’Leary’s charm offensive fails to impress Chinese hackers April 29, 2015 RYANAIR chairman Michael O’Leary’s charm offensive designed to win over customers hasn’t seemed to reach China. The no frills airline boss, who recently spoke out about the need to improve customer service to prevent “unnecessarily pissing people off,” confirmed yesterday that hackers stole almost £3.25m from its accounts, using an electronic transfer via a Chinese [...]
Budget 2015: A quick guide to all the key measures March 18, 2015 Chancellor delivers good news for savers and first-time buyers as he turns up heat on banks in play for votes ahead of election. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. However, the economy grew by just 0.5 per cent in the final three months of 2014, [...]
Budget 2015: Here are George Osborne’s best quotes plus his Budget speech in full March 18, 2015 George Osborne's final Budget during this parliament had few surprises but plenty of great quips, including – to the dismay of bookies everywhere – a quip about Ed Miliband's now-infamous second kitchen. Here's a selection of our favourites from today's big speech. (Source: Getty/City A.M.) (Source: Getty/City A.M) (Source: Getty/City A.M.) [...]
Creativity makes a vast contribution to business: We ignore it at our peril February 25, 2015 The Academy Awards have become a (not especially accurate) measure of the UK’s cultural standing in the world. Thanks to Eddie and co, the Brits officially had a good Oscars, with four wins from nearly 40 nominations, but we need not obsess over the results of this dubious annual assessment. Our film stars are just [...]
Novamedia / Postcode Lotteries – No.3 December 18, 2014 Netherlands – £470.3m For a Postcode Lottery player their address could be the luckiest thing that ever happened to them. Anyone who wants to play provides their postcode which then becomes their ticket number. Using the postcode means it’s not just one participant who wins a prize, but all the players in an entire street [...]
Alex Salmond confirms he will stand for seat in UK parliament at general election December 7, 2014 The former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has confirmed plans for a return to Westminster by standing for a seat in UK parliament at next year’s general election. The Scottish politician who stood down as leader of the SNP after being defeated in the independence referendum, announced his candidacy for the constituency of Gordon in [...]
City Moves for 20 November 2014 | Who’s switching jobs November 19, 2014 Deloitte The business advisory firm has appointed Bill Page as senior adviser for African projects, based in London. He joins after five years at Deloitte Tanzania, where he was partner responsible for tax practices there and in Uganda. Page also spent nearly 11 years in the former Soviet Union. Moore Stephens The accounting and advisory [...]
NHS funding should target the old for tax hikes and benefit cuts, says report September 4, 2014 Higher earners over the age of 40 should be targeted for "critical needs taxes" if the UK is to keep up with demands from an increasingly strained NHS, a new report has said. Charges and private insurance were rejected as possible solutions by the report, compiled by a commission within charity the King's Fund. "We [...]
Theresa May to tackle extremism in Britain with new laws but warns it will take decades to eradicate August 23, 2014 The Home Secretary Theresa May has announced plans to tackle home-grown extremism following the murder of the US journalist James Foley by a suspected British Jihadist. New measures dubbed “anti-social behaviour orders” for extremists will seek to curtail extremist behaviour and language and make it illegal to join extremist groups not directly involved in terrorism, [...]