Boris pledges new deal for suburban rail March 22, 2012 BORIS Johnson has promised to secure specific improvements to London’s suburban rail services if he is re-elected, in the form of longer trains and enlarged stations. The Budget includes a pledge to consider further investment in the capital’s rail network, prompting Johnson (pictured) to assert that he is the best-placed candidate to win funds from [...]
Boris pledges new deal for suburban rail March 22, 2012 BORIS Johnson has promised to secure specific improvements to London’s suburban rail services if he is re-elected, in the form of longer trains and enlarged stations. The Budget includes a pledge to consider further investment in the capital’s rail network, prompting Johnson (pictured) to assert that he is the best-placed candidate to win funds from [...]
Politicking Osborne falls into a granny trap March 21, 2012 AS always with George Osborne, yesterday’s Budget was first and foremost about politics. Having spent years on the wrong side of Gordon Brown’s famous dividing lines, the current chancellor has become pretty adept at drawing his own. First, there was the business-friendly cut in the headline rate of corporation tax. Labour, you see, has a huge [...]
EVOLUTION’S GRIFFITH HEADS TOWARDS ORIEL March 15, 2012 It’s not all about cutbacks at Oriel Securities, the independent UK corporate and institutional stockbroker. Earlier this week it emerged that Oriel was trimming its staff by letting go of around 15 people but yesterday the firm showed that it is in hiring mode also. Oriel has taken on Richard Griffith, the former Evolution oil [...]
Tube staff net Olympics bonus offer of £850 March 8, 2012 LONDON Underground has come a step closer to preventing worker walk-outs during the Olympics by offering staff a bonus of £850 each. Transport for London has raised its offer for around 18,000 LU staff following a dispute with union RMT. Workers would receive a £350 flat-rate bonus, plus an extra £20 per shift and a [...]
Price matching was expensive but worth it March 7, 2012 NEVER knowingly undersold. It has been the guiding principle behind the John Lewis offering since 1925. Despite this the group still has an upmarket image, as exploited by a famous Dixons advert in 2009. “Step into middle England’s best loved department store… where an awfully well brought up young man will bend over backwards to [...]
Accountants claim they would support a tax-dodgers’ amnesty March 5, 2012 MOST accountants would support a general tax amnesty, allowing tax dodgers to declare income to the government in exchange for a lower penalty, according to a survey published today by audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill. Previous amnesties have allowed UK individuals with bank accounts, trusts or companies in Switzerland to preserve their [...]
It’s going to be a very tough fight March 5, 2012 WHEN Boris Johnson took the Mayoralty from Ken Livingstone in 2008, many observers thought a repeat victory in 2012 was a foregone conclusion. If recent polls are anything to go by, that most certainly isn’t the case: with just two months to go, the race is too close to call. “The polls are very close [...]
Meaty dividend looks less vulnerable March 1, 2012 IT’S the dividend, stupid. Since September, when Man revealed it had been hit by billions-of-pounds-worth of redemptions, its meaty payout has looked distinctly vulnerable. Yesterday, chief executive Peter Clarke made it clear that Man is committed to paying bumper dividends, even if times are hard. From now on it will pay out 100 per cent of [...]
Ambitious network won’t see light of day February 20, 2012 FOR several years Inmarsat was the unsung darling of the FTSE 100. During the financial crisis it became a safe haven for investors seeking shelter from riskier stocks, a high-tech defensive with few competitors. Better still, its biggest shareholder Harbinger Capital, the US investment fund, propped up the shares by making clear its intention to [...]