Firms call for tax breaks for infrastructure November 25, 2012 BUSINESSES want the chancellor to revive plans to inject cash into large road and rail upgrades with tax breaks, a survey out today suggests. Senior tax professionals at some of Britain’s biggest firms put tax incentives for those investing in infrastructure at the top of their wish list for next week’s Autumn Statement. Tax credits [...]
High childcare costs needn’t give you a case of baby blues November 25, 2012 RISING childcare costs are deterring British mothers from returning to work. According to a 2011 Eurostat survey, 48.8 per cent of women with three or more children are in employment in the UK, compared with 71.3 per cent in the Netherlands and 68.2 in Finland. But family formation patterns have changed over the past few [...]
UBS is still a big player despite recent predicaments November 22, 2012 Anybody taking just a cursory glance at the headlines about UBS’s investment bank recently, might be forgiven for thinking it was something of a basket case. What with the news of a plan to shrink headcount by 10,000, a strategic refocusing of strategy away from high risk, complex trading products, followed by a guilty verdict [...]
FTSE 100 down on concerns over Greece November 21, 2012 The blue chip index edged down in early deals today, weighed down by a lack of agreement among Greece’s international lenders on emergency aid for the Eurozone country. Credit card insurer CPP Group fell 7.48 per cent, while Imagination Technologies sank 6.42 per cent on the news that it faced a rival for its bid [...]
Aviva appoints former AIA head Mark Wilson as chief executive November 20, 2012 AVIVA, the UK’s second-biggest insurer, yesterday announced it had appointed former AIA boss Mark Wilson as chief executive. The New Zealand-born insurance veteran prepared AIA for its 2010 listing and was credited with successfully steering the Asian firm through the financial crisis in his four-year tenure. His appointment at struggling Aviva comes six months after [...]
FTSE 100 down on global growth concerns November 16, 2012 The blue chip index edged down in early deals as investors fretted over US fiscal cliff concerns and Eurozone growth. Buyout group Melrose was the biggest faller on the leading share index, shedding 13.69 per cent as it said it was facing slowing revenue trends. Utility firm Pennon firm 2.55 per cent, while steelmaker Evraz [...]
We need a new entrepreneurial revolution to rescue Britain November 15, 2012 IT is all too easy to despair about everything that is wrong with Britain. But one ray of light is our slow-burning, yet increasingly profound shift towards becoming a more entrepreneurial society. Britain counts 4.8m private firms, 99.9 per cent of which are small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Most are micro businesses. The rise of [...]
FSA ends CPP misselling probe with a record £10.5m penalty November 15, 2012 CPP has been slapped with a joint-record £10.5m fine for misselling card protection insurance, following an FSA probe that lasted more than a year and wiped 90 per cent off the firm’s market value. The company has been left with a bill for £33.4m, including redress for customers and costs associated with the investigation, but [...]
A tough-minded strategy gives 3i fresh hope of growth November 15, 2012 SIMON Borrows took a distinguished City pedigree to private equity house 3i in May, and his stewardship has bought the group some time to put its turnaround plans, announced in June, into place. Even activist shareholder Laxey Partners seems to have made peace with the arrangements. Yesterday’s half-year results gave further grounds for holding fire. [...]
Eurozone worries weigh on FTSE 100 November 15, 2012 The leading share index was trading down this morning, as investors were spooked by growth worries in the Eurozone. Wolfson Microelectronics sank six per cent in early trading, followed closely by stove maker Aga, which fell 5.42 per cent. Engineering firm Wood Group declined 4.82 per cent, while investment manager Man Group dropped 4.8 per [...]