Hays says firms are now hiring across Britain April 10, 2014 A BOUNCE in hiring across the country has helped Hays to lift its profit outlook for the year, pushing shares in the UK’s biggest recruiter to the highest level since the recession. The firm’s UK and Ireland business posted a 14 per cent jump in net fees for the first three months of the year, [...]
Royal Mail’s facing a nasty threat, and it’s set to grow April 10, 2014 Royal Mail warned yesterday that an Ofcom review into wholesale mail prices will mean a period of uncertainty. This morning, shares in the FTSE 100 firm have fallen to 502p – down nearly three per cent. The investigation will look at Access market contract charges – Access mail is the type that’s pre-sorted, before being [...]
Official figures point to growing profit rate for UK manufacturers April 9, 2014 MANUFACTURING firms in the UK were at their most profitable for over five years as 2013 ended, with a 12.1 per cent net rate of return pushing the UK’s industry back to 2008 levels. The rate of return has not been higher since the second quarter of 2008, according to figures released by the Office [...]
We are finally starting to get a more grown-up debate on the EU April 8, 2014 AT SOME point over the next few years, the UK will have to decide once and for all what it wants Its relationship with the European Union to be. This is a crucial debate, albeit one where intelligent and well-meaning people who broadly share the same outlook on many other issues will still find it [...]
Recruiter Walters sees lengthy skills shortage April 7, 2014 CUTS TO graduate recruitment during the recession have led to a shortage of qualified professionals that is set to continue for the next few years, according to recruiter Robert Walters. The white collar jobs firm, which yesterday posted an 11 per cent in net fee income to £48.1m for the first three months of the [...]
Post Office offers 95pc mortgage April 7, 2014 The Post Office yesterday unveiled its new range of mortgages using the Help to Buy loan guarantee scheme. Using the government support it will offer 95 per cent mortgages to house buyers with small deposits saved up. Its two-year loans will be on offer with an interest rate beginning at 4.95 per cent. The new [...]
How one London council is cutting tax while improving services April 2, 2014 THOSE touring Hammersmith and Fulham to buy or rent property will often find estate agents mentioning council tax. While other bills keep rising, council tax in the borough, where I am a councillor, keeps coming down. It is due to drop by another 3 per cent in April next year. In 2006, council tax, at [...]
Sales of new homes in Canary Wharf soar April 2, 2014 Residential activity in Canary Wharf is booming, according to new figures from property consultants JLL today which show that the business-focussed district enjoyed one of the highest levels of sales of new homes last year. New unit sales have increased from 400 in 2012 to 1,050 in 2013, pushing values up to an average of [...]
Host Brandreth outshines the gong winners March 28, 2014 LONDON’S share price heroes were out in force last night at the KPMG UK Stock Market Awards but there wasn’t a winner in the room that could make as much of an impression as host Gyles Brandreth did as he blustered his way through the gong list. Brandreth mistook absent EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall (travel [...]
Inside Track: Cenkos is driving an AA float, but the handbrake is still on March 26, 2014 YOU KNOW things are getting toppy when Cenkos is hawking accelerated IPOs around the City,” a fund manager told me over lunch last week. While he said it half in jest, he had a point. The investment bank whose rainmakers pioneered the technique during their time at Collins Stewart are back in their old routine. [...]