Lloyds yet to see cut in red tape for SMEs October 2, 2011 BANKS have yet to see any progress on the government’s deregulation agenda for small businesses, according to the chairman of Lloyds Banking Group. During a fringe event of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Sir Win Bischoff (pictured) was asked whether he has seen an impact from government initiatives aimed at reducing red tape, like [...]
No end in sight for suffering retailers as sales fall for five months in a row September 27, 2011 HIGH STREET spending fell again in September with the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) distributive trades survey, released yesterday, showing more retailers suffering from falling sales. Thirty-nine per cent saw sale volumes falling over the last 12 months, compared with 24 per cent who experienced an increase. That gives a balance of -15 per cent, [...]
No end in sight for suffering retailers as sales fall for five months in a row September 27, 2011 HIGH STREET spending fell again in September with the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) distributive trades survey, released yesterday, showing more retailers suffering from falling sales. Thirty-nine per cent saw sale volumes falling over the last 12 months, compared with 24 per cent who experienced an increase. That gives a balance of -15 per cent, [...]
Industry to get carbon tax breaks October 4, 2011 THE CHANCELLOR is set to unveil a package of tax relief for energy-intensive firms in his autumn statement, after he was criticised for hitting industry with a £3.2bn carbon stealth tax in his last Budget. City A.M. understands the package will help those firms that use large amounts of energy, such as cement, aluminium and [...]
CBI: Fortunes split for UK service sector February 23, 2011 PROFESSIONAL services firms have bounced back to record significant growth for the first time in nearly three years, the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) is expected to announce today. Business volumes for the last three months reached their highest index score – a positive balance of eight per cent – since May 2008. Optimism in [...]
GDP rises to 0.5 per cent November 1, 2011 Gross domestic product grew by 0.5 per cent on the quarter as business services and finance posted the strongest quarterly increase in four years, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey released earlier showed that manufacturers saw the sharpest monthly rate of decline since June 2009 in October. [...]
It is time that business got its hands dirty – by helping rebuild the nation’s schools October 18, 2011 FOR business leaders there can be few, if any, more critical issues than the way that we educate the workforce of tomorrow. How the UK approaches education reform over the coming years will determine how successfully it closes the skills gap that threatens our future prosperity. So any good business leader knows that he or [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL CONFIDENCE BOUNCE BACK SOON? September 25, 2011 SAMUEL TOMBS | CAPITAL ECON “No – conditions may be deteriorating further. We expect figures from surveys like the CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey, which comes out in the UK tomorrow, to maintain the gloomy tone. And while August’s household borrowing figures, released this Thursday, may reveal a rise in mortgage approvals, we predict a fall [...]
Treasury accused of dishonesty over its position on Tobin tax September 28, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT was branded “dishonest” yesterday, after it said it had “no objection” to a global Tobin tax that would wipe billions off City profits – even though it continues to oppose a European version of the levy. A spokesperson for the Treasury said the government had “no objection in principle” to a financial transaction [...]
Head of CBI makes first big changes February 13, 2011 THE new director of the CBI, John Cridland, has made a raft of changes to his senior management team in his first major act at the top of the business employers’ group. Cridland, who took over from Richard Lambert last month, has appointed two of his staff to senior roles as he looks to make [...]