Plain cigarette packaging: MPs vote in favour of law that will see standardised packaging from 2016 March 11, 2015 MPs have voted in favour of plain packaging on cigarettes which will see just a brand name and health warnings appear on packets from next year. Some 367 MPs voted in favour of the move while 113 voted against after a long-running battle between business and health campaigners since the government first made a move [...]
Bank of England’s Martin Weale: Interest rate hike remains “finely balanced” March 11, 2015 The eventual interest rate hike remains "a finely balanced tug of war" and "pulls in both directions have intensified", a member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee said in a speech made today. Weale said the bank must weigh the fact rising wages without a corresponding pick-up in productivity will strengthen the case for [...]
The UK economy could gain £38bn by improving digital technology by 2020 March 11, 2015 Better use of digital technology would boost the UK economy by £38bn and help increase global output by almost a trillion pounds. Improving digital technology in the world’s top 10 economies would benefit the global economy by more than £900bn in increased productivity by 2020, according to a new analysis of the global digital economy. The [...]
CBI: Plain cigarette packaging vote is bad for the UK March 10, 2015 Britain’s top business group has urged parliamentarians to strike down government plans that would see cigarettes sold in plain, unbranded packaging from May 2016. The intervention by CBI director general John Cridland is a significant step for a major business figure to take so near to a General Election, and may damage the Conservatives’ claim [...]
Mark Carney says talk of cut to interest rate is overblown March 10, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney yesterday implied that talks of a cut in interest rates nearer to zero were overblown. He also ruled out cancelling government debt held by the Bank to reduce the headline figure. Policy makers will “look through” falls in energy and food prices that would keep inflation below target this [...]
Euro plunges to near-parity with US dollar March 10, 2015 THE EURO came within touching distance of parity with the dollar yesterday as monetary policies on either side of the Atlantic diverge. The Eurozone began using new money to buy government debt this week, which is impacting the currency, despite being outlined in advance. The euro fell by 1.45 per cent against the dollar yesterday to [...]
UK numbers up despite challenges March 10, 2015 INSURANCE group Prudential posted pre-tax profit of £2.6bn for 2014, up 71 per cent on last year’s £1.5bn, despite significant changes in the UK market. New business sales were up by 12 per cent, from £4.2bn to £4.7bn, while in the UK sales grew by 18 per cent, from £725m to £857m. The company increased its [...]
Randy Work joins Roman Abramovich and Sir Chris Hohn with multi-million pound divorce settlement March 10, 2015 London cemented its reputation as the divorce capital of the world after a businessman was ordered to pay his ex-wife £72.3m, amounting to half his wealth. Randy Work, a former private equity executive at Lone Star, argued that his £150m fortune should be protected from ex-wife Mandy Gray as he was the “breadwinner” and because [...]
Business group ups UK growth forecasts for the next two years March 10, 2015 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has upgraded its growth forecast for British GDP for the next two years, based on better-than-expected growth in household consumption and services. It now predicts that GDP growth will be 2.7 per cent this year, and 2.6 per cent next year. The BCC also expects that GDP growth in [...]
Slump in home loans expected to be temporary March 10, 2015 Agents and brokers are expecting a pick up in mortgage lending this year after a sluggish end to 2014. Meanwhile, one of the UK’s most-watched house price indicators has changed hands. Gross mortgage lending was 8.1 per cent lower in the final three months of 2014 than in the three months to September, according to [...]