Lack of finance keeps smaller housebuilders trailing behind their bigger rivals January 18, 2016 Profits at the top UK housebuilders may have hit a pre-crisis high but their smaller rivals are still struggling to recover as funding for larger projects remains scarce, new research suggests. A construction boom has helped profit margins at larger housebuilders reach an average of 11.7 per cent for 2015 compared to their 2007 peak of 11.2 [...]
Volkswagen emissions scandal: Has it put car makers on the road to becoming the new banks? January 15, 2016 Not long ago, it seemed impossible to think that the reputational turbulence experienced by the banks of late could be matched by any other sector. However, Volkswagen’s recent mea culpa is just one of the latest in a series of blows for the automotive industry and, for many, a potential tipping point in terms of [...]
EU referendum: Alan Johnson says Brexit will cost UK car manufacturers £1.2bn a year despite Toyota commitment to keep building cars in Britain if UK leaves EU January 14, 2016 British car manufacturers could be hit with tariffs worth £1.2bn a year if the UK leaves the EU, a leading Labour MP has warned, just days after Toyota said it would keep making cars in Britain even if voters back Brexit. Alan Johnson, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and chair [...]
Full England squad: Eddie Jones’ 33-man squad for the Six Nations features returns for Chris Ashton and Marlon Yarde but no Danny Cipriani January 13, 2016 Eddie Jones has called up seven uncapped players into his first squad as England head coach, including 21-year-old Saracens lock Maro Itoje and Wasps' 23-year-old centre Elliot Daly. High profile players including Danny Cipriani, Ben Morgan, Brad Barritt and Tom Youngs have been left out of the Six Nations squad, while there are returns for [...]
Football could finally introduce live video replays to help referees as soon as 2018 January 8, 2016 Football's lawmakers are set to give their backing to the introduction of live video replays to help referees make more accurate decisions during games. The International Football Association Board (Ifab) is expected to signal the green light for trials of video replays to be introduced when it meets in Cardiff early next March. Refereeing teams [...]
2015 was a record year for new car registrations – but VW has lost January 7, 2016 Everyone's a petrolhead now. The year 2015 was a record year for new car registrations, new figures have shown, with 2.63m new vehicles registered during the year – up 6.3 per cent from last year. That was boosted by December – the biggest on record – during which 180,077 new cars were registered, up 8.4 per [...]
Car industry revival turbo charged in US – GM, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan all pull in record sales for December and 2015 January 5, 2016 Oil prices at an 11 year low, an easy line of credit, pent up customer demand, and a rebound in the jobs market all contributed to a record breaking 2015 for the US car industry, crowned with one of the best December trading periods ever. The picture is looking similar in UK, with many of [...]
Strong US car sales heading for a record year in 2015 as General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Fiat and Nissan post booming sales January 5, 2016 US car makers posted strong December sales, fuelling expectations that 2015 sales will hit a record high, as analysts suggest a stronger economy and plunging petrol prices could send 2016 sales soaring higher still. December sales hit 17.8m vehicles, according to General Motors, besting the previous record from 2000 of 17.35m. The country’s car sales, [...]
Danny Cipriani on course for England Six Nations selection, says Sale Sharks boss Steve Diamond January 4, 2016 In-form Danny Cipriani is making it difficult for new England head coach Eddie Jones to leave the quicksilver fly-half out of his squad for the Six Nations, according to Sale boss Steve Diamond. Cipriani, now 28, is still to justify the predictions of a stellar international career that greeted his emergence at Wasps almost a [...]
You’re never too old to become an entrepreneur January 4, 2016 The most high-profile entrepreneurs of the moment are fairly young and have achieved serious business success very early: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes, and David Karp, founder and chief executive of Tumblr, to name but three. But that doesn’t mean the dream is dead for the rest of us. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s [...]