Budget 2017 UK: “T-Levels” shake-up for young people’s technical training promised by Philip Hammond March 8, 2017 The government is promising to invest fresh cash in preparing young people for the new global economy with investment in technical training. Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed the new £500m plans he called "game-changing" in his Spring Budget on Wednesday. The radical overhaul of post-16 education will see a dizzying array of 13,000 different qualifications whittled down [...]
How to get more women to the very top of the business world March 8, 2017 This International Women’s Day, I have been thinking about why – after so many years of discussion – we still need an “international day” to commit to working towards gender equality. As a female chief executive of a global professional body, I am unusual and most of my peers are men. ACCA has helped buck [...]
A forecast for a bounce in the UK’s GDP has put a spring in Philip Hammond’s step ahead of his first Budget March 8, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond will today give an upbeat assessment on the future of the British economy in his debut Budget, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) becomes the latest body to upgrade its UK growth forecasts. The influential Paris-based OECD yesterday said UK GDP growth will reach 1.6 per cent this year, up [...]
Billy Vunipola set to go straight into England XV to face Scotland in Six Nations March 7, 2017 Saracens powerhouse Billy Vunipola is set to earn an immediate international recall during England’s crunch Six Nations showdown with Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday. Whiteboards positioned at the side of the pitch at England’s Pennyhill Park training base yesterday appeared to suggest Vunipola is pencilled in to replace Nathan Hughes at No8. Scrum-half Ben Youngs, [...]
The House of Lords just handed Theresa May her second parliamentary defeat on Brexit March 7, 2017 The House of Lords has inflicted a second Brexit defeat on Prime Minister Theresa May, amending her Article 50 Bill in a bid to force the government to offer a “meaningful” vote on quitting the EU. After three hours of occasionally fractious debate, peers voted 366 to 268 in favour of the change. A handful of Conservative peers [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]
Budget 2017 UK predictions: What you can expect from the chancellor’s Spring Budget March 7, 2017 It's that time of year again: the chancellor is getting set to dust off his little red box and deliver the Spring Budget. It's the last one we'll see at this time of year, as Philip Hammond decided to move the major announcements to an Autumn Statement schedule. It's likely to be a more staid [...]
Entrepreneur housebuilders have been crushed: We must bring them back to life March 7, 2017 It's nothing new to say that too few homes are being built in the UK. Fourteen housing ministers in the last 20 years have acknowledged it time after time, just as they have recognised that housing – or the lack thereof – is the UK’s greatest modern economic challenge. Yet the frequency with which these individuals have [...]
Apprentices may bridge post Brexit labour shortages, employers’ campaign claims March 6, 2017 Apprentices can help bridge the gap of labour shortages if the UK loses access to skilled workers following Brexit, research by apprentice and graduate entry to work campaigners, The 5% Club, claims. In a survey of 200 UK employers, 89 per cent said that Brexit would make no difference to the number of apprentices they [...]
Samsung accused of bribing South Korea’s president March 6, 2017 South Korean conglomerate Samsung has been accused by the state prosecutor of bribing President Park Geun-hye $37.19m (£30.34m) for her support on Samsung’s corporate activities including a merger and a public listing. According to the state’s special prosecutor, Park Young-soo, a 70-day probe has found that the president is responsible for several counts of illegality, including [...]