Barclays cuts 150 investment bank jobs July 31, 2015 Barclays is planning to cut around 150 jobs in its investment banking arm, Morning Wire understands. The cuts come shortly after chief executive Antony Jenkins was ousted by new chairman John McFarlane, who has earned the nickname "Mack the knife" thanks to his no-holds-barred approach to cutting headcounts. Deputy chairman Sir Mike Rake has also [...]
Eurozone inflation holds steady at 0.2 per cent in July July 31, 2015 The Eurozone's annual inflation rate held steady at 0.2 per cent in the year to July, unchanged from the previous month, a flash estimate by Eurostat showed today. Nevertheless inflation remains well below the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of just under two per cent, meaning there's still plenty of work for the ECB's €60bn a [...]
Uber invests $1bn in India to battle rival Ola July 31, 2015 Uber has announced a $1bn (£640m) investment in India, the ride-hailing app’s fastest-growing market. India is already Uber’s largest market outside the US, after it expanded to 18 cities in two years, posting 40 per cent month-on-month growth. The company will use the investment to expand further, putting it in direct competition with local taxi-hailing company [...]
Russian central bank cuts interest rate, pushing down rouble July 31, 2015 The Russian central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate again, this time by half a percentage point, to 11 per cent. It's the second time in as many months it's cut its interest rate – and that's after it slashed it by two percentage points in January, one percentage point in March and 1.5 [...]
JD Sports on course to smash consensus expectations July 31, 2015 JD Sports Fashion's share price jumped more than seven per cent this morning after revealing it expects pre-tax profits to come in 10 per cent ahead of market expectations. The retailer, which announced record annual profits before tax of £100m in April, said it would smash consensus market expectations. Analysts have been tipping [...]
To stay ahead in a digital economy, we must dismiss the myth that digital skills are only for a certain few July 31, 2015 To stay ahead in a future digital economy, leaders of any business need to culturally prepare for radical change. Today, the digital skills that underpin the success of our future economy lie in the hands of a small group of people. How many business leaders can confidently say they understand what goes on behind the [...]
Where are London salaries growing fastest? Kensington and Chelsea and Tower Hamlets have biggest wage growth July 31, 2015 It pays to be a Londoner. Wages are still highest in the capital, and growing at a higher pace than the rest of the country – but where are they growing fastest? The growth is far from evenly split, even within London. Some areas of the capital have experienced a truly booming growth in earnings, [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]
Today’s job cuts at Shell and Centrica were about more than just rapidly falling oil prices July 31, 2015 The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry is at a crossroads. Though it has spent over £500bn and employed hundreds of thousands people in high-skilled jobs across the UK to extract the nation’s oil and gas over the last 50 years, it has found itself with a bloated cost base and worrying inefficiency. Job [...]
GDP growth: Ireland’s economy powered ahead in the first quarter July 31, 2015 Ireland is that little bit closer to having the fastest growing economy in Europe for the second year running. The country's Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the economy grew 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the previous three months, but slightly below economists' expectations for a 1.5 per cent rise. [...]