Most Help to Buy beneficiaries ‘did not need scheme’ June 13, 2019 The government’s Help to Buy scheme has been accused of subsidising existing homeowners, after it emerged most people who have bought a house using the programme could have done so without it. A National Audit Office report today said three-fifths of buyers could have bought a property without the support of Help to Buy, “but [...]
Ford continues shift in focus towards tech by hiring former finance boss at Snap March 21, 2019 Ford has appointed the former CFO of social media giant Snap as its new finance boss, as part of a leadership overhaul. The second-biggest car manufacturer in the US said its chief financial officer Bob Shanks will retire at the end of 2019 to be replaced by Tim Stone, a 20-year veteran of Amazon and [...]
Help to Buy extended to 2023 for first time buyers: Industry reacts October 29, 2018 The fate of the government’s Help to Buy scheme was cleared up this afternoon after the chancellor said that he would be extending a revised version of the policy until 2023, but for first-time buyers only. From April 2021 the scope of Downing Street's flagship housing policy will be narrowed down, with only first-time buyers [...]
Waitrose and Morrisons to crack down on plastics in recycling boom January 28, 2019 Two of the UK’s largest food retailers, Morrisons and Waitrose & Partners, will today announce new measures to tackle high quantities of plastic pollution and waste both within stores and nationwide. Waitrose has established a £1m grant fund, raised through 5p carrier bag sales, for organisations pursuing projects designed to reduce unnecessary plastic waste and [...]
Hammond shows how to ease austerity the Conservative way October 30, 2018 The Philip Hammond of a few years ago would have seen a few billion pounds courtesy of an unexpected windfall and promptly locked it away, like the chairman of the bank in Mary Poppins. But something has changed. Yesterday, Hammond was more Tigger than Eeyore. He announced a whopping £30bn of extra public spending by [...]
WPP confirms Mark Read as top boss Sir Martin Sorrell’s replacement September 3, 2018 WPP has confirmed the appointment of Mark Read as chief executive of the world's largest marketing agency, replacing its founder Sir Martin Sorrell who left the role in April. Read had long been the bookies' favourite for the position, although other top names such as IBM's David Kenny and industry veteran Hamish McLennan had also [...]
Philip Hammond chooses to splash the cash in his Budget rather than pay down the deficit October 29, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond declared “austerity is coming to an end” as he unveiled a raft of spending increases and tax cuts on Monday. Hammond used better-than-expected tax revenues of £12bn to pour extra cash into the NHS and bring forward by a year an increase in the 40p tax threshold to £50,000. The new level will [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget contained tricks and treats for your personal finances October 31, 2018 The move of this year’s Autumn Budget to Monday this week rather than its traditional Wednesday slot was ostensibly to give MPs more time to debate the chancellor’s proposals before the House of Commons rises for recess on 6 November. But presumably Philip Hammond also hoped to avoid some Halloween-themed headlines, which he himself alluded to [...]
A year on from Carillion: 12 months that brought outsourcing to its knees January 15, 2019 On the anniversary of Carillion’s dramatic collapse, two more public sector outsourcing giants, Interserve and Kier Group, are up against the ropes. In the intervening 12 months, outsourcers have lurched from one crisis to another, with profit warnings, massive project failures and revelations of systemic late payment of suppliers. City A.M. charts a year which [...]
Ofgem is set to cap energy bills September 6, 2018 Households stand to save up to £120 a year following the introduction of a proposed cap on energy bills. Energy regulator Ofgem plans to cap tariffs at £1,136, saving 11m households around £75, and £120 for those on the most expensive gas and electricity deals. Read more: Eurozone producer price inflation spikes due to [...]