Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit: A new glorious chapter in UK-India relations is beginning November 12, 2015 The visit of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is the second landmark trip to the UK in a month, following the successful state visit by President Xi of China. Today, Modi meets the Queen and this evening he will be greeted in a manner that is normally the preserve of rock stars, by over 60,000 [...]
FTSE closes up despite losses from Sainsbury – London Report November 12, 2015 FALLS in supermarket, miner and housebuilders’ shares yesterday did not prevent the FTSE 100 rising marginally. The UK’s blue-chip index rose 0.35 per cent to 6,297 points. The largest casualty, by some way, was Sainsbury, which reported profits had slumped 18 per cent and slashed its interim dividend by a third. Sainsbury’s group sales were down [...]
Federation of Small Businesses calls on London councils and TfL to offer free festive parking November 11, 2015 Business lobby group the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on London councils and Transport for London to offer free parking for Christmas shoppers over the festive period. With Small Business Saturday on 5 December, the FSB hopes that the organisations will nix the car parking charges. Half of the FSB’s members said that the [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 closes marginally up despite losses from Sainsbury, housebuilders and miners November 11, 2015 The FTSE 100 rose marginally on Wednesday, despite by falls in Supermarkets, miners and housebuilders. The UK's top blue-chip index rose 0.35 per cent to 6,297 points. The largest casualty, by some way, was Sainsbury, which today reported profits had slumped 18 per cent and slashed its interim dividend by a third. Sainsbury's group sales were down two per [...]
Sunday trading: Liberalising retail laws is a win-win for staff, shoppers and business November 11, 2015 Yesterday saw – amidst what is best described as confusion – the Government enact a classic reverse ferret on plans to devolve the regulation of Sunday trading hours to Local Authorities, after members of the SNP joined Labour and some Tory dissenters in registering their opposition to the plans. It is deeply disappointing. It is, [...]
With reform of Sunday trading laws put on hold, is England showing the world it’s closed for business? November 10, 2015 Adrian Pepper, managing director of Pepper Media and the founder of consumer group Open Sundays, says Yes You can now shop on the Champs-Elysees in Paris all day on a Sunday. But you can only spend six hours in the supermarkets and tourist emporiums of Knightsbridge, Oxford Street or Westfield. As things stand in the [...]
UK employment statistics 2015: Job vacancies on the rise across London November 9, 2015 Jobs are on the up across a variety of sectors, according to several reports released today. The number of new vacancies in financial services in London rose by seven per cent to 9,480 in October compared to the month before, recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley found. The figure also represents a 28 per cent increase compared [...]
UK unemployment figures set to be in the spotlight – London Report November 8, 2015 Following the US jobs report on Friday, UK investors will focus on Wednesday’s release of the September employment report and October’s tally for the claimant count. They will be published alongside a raft of secondtier indicators on retail sales and house prices. Today, funeral operator Dignity is expected to reveal a jump in revenues when [...]
How the Northern Powerhouse could boost SMEs – Investec Comment November 8, 2015 Critics of the chancellor's ambition to create a Northern Powerhouse often dismiss the idea as a gimmick. The challenge of rebalancing the UK economy is certainly immense. A recent report by the Centre of Cities showed that gross value added per worker in 2013 in the areas covered by the Northern Powerhouse was 13 per [...]
The UK is great at supporting startups – so why can’t we do the same with scale-ups? November 6, 2015 The last five years have seen an unprecedented growth in the number of new, registered companies and we have now surpassed the rate at which even the United States produces startups. This is terrific progress, but when these businesses grow and try to move to the next stage – be that taking on more employees, [...]