Theresa May says Britain should be a leader in free trade as she moots deals with five G20 nations September 5, 2016 Theresa May has said leaders of five G20 nations have expressed willingness to explore free trade deals with the UK in the aftermath of Brexit, although none of the nations are among the UK's top trading partners. May said the leaders of South Korea, Mexico, Singapore and India had all expressed a desire for talks to lift trade [...]
Fresh pressure on UK government to change Chinese visa arrangements September 5, 2016 Lobby group UK China Visa Alliance (UKCVA) and West End landlord Shaftesbury are ramping up pressure on the government to accelerate planned Chinese visa reforms in the wake of the Brexit vote. They want Whitehall to bring forward plans to extend the current two-year visa for Chinese nationals visiting Britain to a 10-year multiple entry visa. It comes amid a drop [...]
The City must build on its relationship with China to remain the world’s financial centre September 5, 2016 Each week seems to bring another vision of how our post-Brexit relationship with Europe might look. Is the EEA an option? What has to be done in order to secure access to the Single Market? As lord mayor of London, it is my responsibility to work with the government and other key institutions to ensure [...]
Absolut Vodka maker Pernod Ricard edges up profits but struggles in China September 1, 2016 French drinks giant Pernod Ricard has posted a healthy boost in net income but struggled to maintain sales in the Chinese market, pushing its sales almost flat over the year as a whole. The figures Net income grew 43 per cent to €1.26bn (£1.05bn) over the 2016 financial year. Sales for the full-year grew one per cent [...]
Coke-a Cola left red-faced after 370kg of cocaine found in French factory September 1, 2016 The Coca-Cola Company has been left red-faced today after a huge stash of cocaine was found in one of its factories in the south of France. Employees found the stash of the white stuff, weighing 370kg, in a delivery of orange juice concentrate from Costa Rica at a site belonging to one of its subsidiaries. The sacks of [...]
AstraZeneca pays out $6m to settle US bribery case August 31, 2016 AstraZeneca will pay $5.5m (£4.1m) to resolve a foreign bribery probe in the US. The payment settles an alleged bribery case at the drugmaker’s Chinese and Russian units going back as far as 2005. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims Astra staff made payments and gave other benefits to state-employed doctors and other [...]
Emerging markets have enjoyed a real comeback, but as expectations of another Fed rate hike grow, can it last long? August 30, 2016 At the beginning of the year, things looked dismal for emerging markets. Investor optimism had soured over the previous three to four years, thanks to a cocktail of tumbling commodity prices, a strong dollar and a Chinese slowdown which had shaken confidence in the sustainability of their growth. Nine months later, and the mood has shifted [...]
The UK has turned its back on the EU – we must not do the same to China August 29, 2016 It has been a little over two months since the EU referendum and data from the UK economy has continued to leave both sides of the Brexit debate wanting. Commentators were overly negative in July and now seem to be swinging excessively positive but the reality is we simply haven’t had enough data to work [...]
Audioboom’s share price jumps double-digits after celebrity investment August 26, 2016 Podcast provider Audioboom today raised £2.6m from the markets after successfully placing shares with former Neighbours star Holly Valance and her property tycoon husband. Nick Candy, himself a non-executive director of Audioboom and already a large shareholder, subscribed to the share issue through Luxembourg-based entity Candy Ventures Sarl. Shares in the Aim-quoted company leapt over 11 per cent in early trading. Although [...]
Apple is said to be planning three new iPhones for next year August 23, 2016 Beyond the upcoming iPhone 7 due to be unveiled soon, Apple is said to be planning three new smartphones for next year, including a premium device with a bold new design feature. The tech company will make a radical overhaul of the iPhone design with a curved screen on one of the models due in 2017, [...]