Small business leaders: We’ll do well and we’re more confident in the UK… but the government is letting us down January 11, 2017 Britain's small businesses are increasingly confident about the UK's economic prospects, but are concerned the government is neglecting the importance of private enterprise, according to research released today. Accountancy firm Smith & Williamson revealed the results of its quarterly Enterprise Index, which showed the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises were five points more optimistic that [...]
10 years on: How the iPhone changed the world January 9, 2017 The iPhone got off to a subdued start when it was first unveiled by Steve Jobs 10 years ago Today. The decade anniversary of the device feels short and at the same time a lifetime. On 9 January 2007, we had no idea how the pocket sized computer would change our lives and business as [...]
A big year, but it won’t Trump 2016’s shocks January 6, 2017 2016's events made fools of most pundits, and looking back at my column exactly a year ago, I fared little better. True, I correctly said that Santander UK would re-engage in an effort to buy Royal Bank of Scotland's Williams & Glyn unit, but I was well wide of the mark arguing that the FTSE-100 [...]
£30bn in the pipeline: This is the year UK firms will cut pension schemes loose January 4, 2017 Britain's companies will shift sky-rocketing pension liabilities from their balance sheets this year, experts have predicted. With defined benefit pension schemes at record year-end levels, 2017 will be year to de-risk and UK plc is keen to take advantage of the improved affordability of shifting scheme risk to the insurance, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Read more: As pension [...]
You’ve copper-be joking? Small business report reveals two-thirds of firms are on old-style connections January 4, 2017 The majority of Britain's small businesses are not using fibre broadband, a report by the telecoms regulator has revealed. Although speed and reliability of internet services were the two key issues facing the UK's smaller firms, 67 per cent of businesses are using a non-fibre fixed line ADSL connection, a study of over 1,500 firms commissioned by watchdog Ofcom found. [...]
Pension deficits hit a record year-end high as experts warn on implications January 3, 2017 Britain's pension gap almost doubled during 2016 to the highest ever year-end level, according to data released today. The aggregate deficit of defined benefit pension schemes leapt to £434bn, according to JLT Employee Benefits, up from £233bn, 12 months before. Although deficits have pared back from all-time highs of over £500bn in August, experts predicted bumper pension [...]
Virgin Media boss is baffled by broadband windfall, saying it conflicts with Ofcom plans December 22, 2016 Virgin Media has hit back at news of a £440m broadband boost to the remote parts of Britain. The government announced today more money would be ploughed back into the country's telecoms infrastructure as a result of better than expected demand for superfast broadband in the hard to reach areas. The money is a rebate from [...]
Surprise broadband demand leads to an extra £440m of telecoms infrastructure investment December 22, 2016 Better than expected demand for fibre broadband in Britain's hard to reach areas has provided a £440m boost to the public purse. In 2013, the government launched its £1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project. The initiative included a series of aims culminating in ensuring 97 per cent of the UK's households could connect to superfast broadband by 2020. BT were [...]
Are you with Britain’s most complained about telecoms provider? December 20, 2016 The number of people complaining about their broadband service is on the rise, according to the regulator. There were 20 complaints for every 100,000 customers in the three months to the end of September, up from 15 in the previous quarter according to the latest complaint data from Ofcom. BT topped the naughty list with 36 complaints [...]
Just over a billion quid: Regulator estimates the cost to deliver minimum broadband levels to 1.4m homes December 16, 2016 Regulators say at least £1.1bn needs to be spent on Britain's telecoms infrastructure to provide a "decent" level of broadband to the more than 1.4m homes in the UK that are currently forced to go without it. Ofcom today set out a series of proposals to the government on how it can deliver on its promise [...]