Political risk prompts Brewin Dolphin downgrade of UK utilities February 13, 2014 The UK’s utilities sector was given another blow today with a downgrade from Brewin Dolphin to underweight. The researchers are also downgrading their recommendations on the two FTSE 100 energy suppliers Centrica and SSE to "hold". The downgrades were partially triggered by energy secretary Ed Davey writing to the regulators this week, calling for the [...]
Ofwat opens up consultation period on new project plans January 15, 2014 WATER regulator Ofwat yesterday published its draft forward work programme for 2014-15, inviting responses before the consultation period ends on 11 February. The document outlines the regulator’s core projects planned until 2016. It will use the responses it receives during the consultation period to finalise its plans for the year ahead and will publish a [...]
Resist temptation: A sugar tax won’t make us healthy March 5, 2014 THE RECENT suggestion by the chief medical officer Sally Davies that “we may need to introduce a sugar tax” is a tribute to the extraordinary media profile of Action on Sugar, the latest pressure group to blame a single ingredient for people being overweight. Previous targets include saturated fat and salt, but it is now [...]
London Report: Inflation data to show economy improving in UK February 16, 2014 INFLATION figures due out tomorrow are expected to show further signs of improvement for the UK’s economic recovery. With the cost of living down, consumer prices inflation (CPI) may now be below two per cent. Jonathan Loynes, of Capital Economics said: “CPI inflation looks set to fall below the two per cent target in January [...]
Treasury insists Britons benefiting from growth December 2, 2013 THE TREASURY insisted yesterday that compensation for workers in the UK is still closely linked to output, adding to debate over the cost of living in the lead up to the Autumn Statement. A new paper seen by City A.M. yesterday suggests that in the years since the crisis, the share of output going to [...]
Why the housing crisis is clobbering London businesses February 24, 2014 THE HOUSING crisis is the biggest challenge facing London. For the first time ever, it is now Londoners’ top concern. For low and middle income Londoners, home ownership is increasingly out of reach, rents consume an ever increasing percentage of their income, and homelessness is rising. But the crisis is also seriously damaging the competitiveness [...]
Tailoring your EMBA: How the right focus can boost your career February 26, 2014 But choosing the right electives is just one half of ensuring you get the most out of your executive education REGARDLESS of why you may choose to study an executive MBA (EMBA), the experience can make a huge difference to ambitious professionals wanting to progress past middle management. But moving up the career ladder via [...]
Brand Index: Squeezed middle still unconvinced by economic upturn December 10, 2013 THE CHANCELLOR’S Autumn Statement, made last Thursday, was hailed in many quarters as a good day for George Osborne and for the government. But when we conducted an online focus group of people from the so-called “squeezed middle”, we found they are not yet feeling the benefits of growth. The picture they painted of their [...]
Beware the unintended consequences of making a Living Wage mandatory November 4, 2013 IT’S LIVING Wage week, and many are endorsing the principle of raising low pay, whether by boosting the minimum wage, or by forcing local authorities and pressuring other private employers to pay the Living Wage. It’s an attractive proposition, advocated by politicians as varied as Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson. But it is worth pausing [...]
Osborne’s plan to cut fuel bills December 2, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has pledged that the government will waive the cost of some green levies currently paid for through energy bills, in a bid to ease political pressure and save the public money. The move is expected to cut energy bills by £50 a year per household, with the cost now met instead through [...]