Strong growth in the US proves Osborne wrong December 5, 2013 A MERE two hours after Osborne claimed the UK was the fastest growing Western economy, official figures from the US proved him wrong. The Commerce Department’s latest revision to its third quarter GDP figure showed that the US economy grew 0.9 per cent in the three months to the end of September compared to the [...]
George on fire but Lola stole the show December 5, 2013 SO GEORGE’S Autumn Statement tie was green. A bolt from the blue (pun intended) for avid George Osborne tie followers, who were expecting blue or purple, and a treat for Ladbrokes which didn’t have to pay out a penny on its tie bet, as punters rushed to place their bets on other colours. The Capitalist [...]
Reactions to the chancellor’s statement December 5, 2013 THE BUSINESS GROUPDirector general of the CBIJohn Cridland The CBI had lobbied the government to cap business rates at two per cent and support business finance. “We have always advocated the dual approach of tackling the deficit and driving growth – the OBR forecasts confirm it is working. Let’s stick with what works. “The pressure [...]
Letters to the Editor – 10/12 – SME support, Savings crisis, Best of Twitter December 9, 2013 SME support [Re: Autumn Statement 2013: What it means for UK entrepreneurs, yesterday] Philip Salter’s points are well made – the chancellor’s initiatives are far too little and far too late to make much of a difference. While action on business rates was a step in the right direction, for example, they are still in urgent need of [...]
City Matters: Business needs bold action from the chancellor to safeguard UK prosperity November 17, 2013 IN TWO weeks’ time, the chancellor will deliver his Autumn Statement, following the first few months of consistently good economic news for several years. The strong positive signs across several areas of the economy make it safe to say that the “recovery has finally taken hold”, as Bank of England governor Mark Carney noted last [...]
Asos share price drops by 3pc after Barnsley warehouse fire June 23, 2014 After a fire at its Barnsley distribution centre, shares in online fashion retailer Asos dropped by more than three per cent this morning as trading resumed after the weekend. The warehouse fire saw the site closed for orders this weekend, and despite being "fully insured for loss of stock and business interruption" the company's stock [...]
Cutting energy bills a good move – but Osborne must do more December 1, 2013 EVERY little helps. George Osborne’s Autumn Statement on Thursday will contain some positive changes, for which it would be churlish not to congratulate him. In particular, energy bills are set to rise by £50 less than they would otherwise have, thanks to a partial rethink of environmental rules. It is a shame that the green [...]
Migrant benefit reform: Doing the right thing for all of the wrong reasons January 20, 2014 YESTERDAY saw the government announce the latest in a line of restrictions on the benefits immigrants can claim. New jobless EU migrants will be denied access to housing benefit from April, and will only be able to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months unless they have a “genuine” chance of work. This comes on top [...]
Ofgem admits energy market is not working November 26, 2013 OFGEM’S interim chief executive Andrew Wright yesterday said he understood why the public mistrusted energy firms and denied allegations that the regulator was “feeble” and “seriously defective”. Wright told MPs on the energy and climate change committee that the retail market “isn’t working as well as it should do” and blamed a loss of confidence [...]
Co-op Energy ups pressure over green tax November 13, 2013 INDEPENDENT energy provider Co-operative Energy put further pressure on the government yesterday by reducing its planned price increase, on the expectation that green levies will be removed from customers’ bills. Last month the firm announced a 4.5 per cent increase to customers’ energy bills, which it has now cut to 2.5 per cent. The government [...]