Northern Powerhouse is dependent on productivity, not links to other cities, says Centre for Cities report June 1, 2016 Northern cities must become more productive if the government's plan for a Northern Powerhouse is to become a reality, a think tank has warned. A new Centre for Cities report today said that chancellor George Osborne's ambition will only come to fruition if the focus is on boosting productivity in underperforming cities in the north. [...]
Bookies slash odds of Cameron standing down from the top job as Tory party squabbling gets heated May 29, 2016 As Tory in-fighting reaches fever pitch today over whether Britain should remain in the EU, the bookies have slashed the odds on David Cameron standing down as Tory leader before the year is out. Bookmakers William Hill have cut the odds on Cameron exiting number 10 from 10/1 to 2/1. William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: [...]
City Moves for 27 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 27, 2016 Payne Hicks Beach Central London law firm Payne Hicks Beach has announced that Virginia Farquharson, a chartered accountant, has been appointed to the newly created director of management role, following the retirement of Peter Black, as managing partner. Virginia has enjoyed a long career at Payne Hicks Beach for over two decades, principally as director [...]
Brexit threatens London’s world beating tourism industry: Don’t let the capital become a museum May 24, 2016 Tourism is one of our biggest exports – and London is the most-visited city on earth. But the industry is worried that this world-beating ranking could be at risk if Britain cuts itself off from Europe. In fact, Europe is our biggest tourist market, with more than 60 per cent of visitors to the UK [...]
“City sophisticates” will dominate the Night Tube and give a boozy £71m boost to the economy, according to new research May 23, 2016 There's something of the night about City workers, according to new research. Researchers at CACI International have put their heads together to work out just how much the hotly anticipated Night Tube will bring in to London's boozing economy. The white paper, "Mind the Gap", has found that London would see a staggering £71m boost to it's late-night [...]
Caledonian MacBrayne wins £900m ferry contract in Scotland May 19, 2016 Caledonian MacBrayne has won a £900m contract to operate the Clyde and Hebrides Ferries Network after stiff competition from Serco. CalMac, which is state owned, had to compete against Serco Caledonian Ferries Limited to continue running the service after EU rules meant the Scottish government was forced to open up the network to competitive bids. The [...]
Travelling at night is going to get easier as London Overground announces an increase in evening services May 17, 2016 Londoners are now benefiting from an increase in evening services on the London Overground after growing demand for night term services. London Overground said that key services will increase by 50 per cent after 10pm as extra trains have been added to a number of routes on the network. Mike Stubbs, Director of London Overground, said: "This [...]
RBS mulls sale of Williams & Glyn and NatWest May 15, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland's advisers are reportedly weighing a shock move to divest both Williams & Glyn and NatWest, as the bank seeks to accelerate sell-off plans. According to the Sunday Telegraph, RBS advisers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Robey Warshaw, are weighing the NatWest move in a bid to ease tech problems behind the Williams [...]
Apple just ploughed $1bn into this Chinese taxi startup May 13, 2016 So now we've found out exactly what Apple was planning to do with (some of) the vast amount of cash it has sloshing around its bank account. Overnight Didi Chuxing, a Chinese rival to Uber, which describes itself as "the world's leading one-stop mobile transportation platform", issued a rather gleeful statement overnight saying it had made [...]
Brent crude and WTI: US oil prices soar to new 2016 high May 12, 2016 US oil prices shook off earlier losses to hit their highest level so far this year, buoyed by a shock drop in US oil stocks. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, added one per cent to $46.7, having hit $46.9 earlier in the day. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 0.8 per cent to $48 per [...]