In praise of the Gurkhas and UK-Nepali friendship June 8, 2015 Tonight, a very special event will take place at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. In the presence of the Queen and other Royals, a pageant will showcase the two hundredth anniversary of Gurkha service in the British army. Amid the spectacular show, there will be an opportunity, too, to reflect on the devastation that has [...]
Five things to expect from the Bank of England minutes October 6, 2015 With the minutes from the Bank of England's October meeting expected to be somewhat uneventful, economists are preparing to drill into the detail for clues as to when it will start raising interest rates. This month's meeting took place ahead of the second round of so-called "Super Thursday", when the central bank treats investors to [...]
What David Cameron’s guru Steve Hilton doesn’t get: You need to shrink the state to make it human June 10, 2015 Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former chief strategist, recently published a new book, More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First. From a powerful mayor in every town to self-build housing, from radically new models of education delivery to “Patients Like Me” social networks in health, Hilton has whizz bang ideas across most public policy [...]
London’s tech sector will grind to a halt without action on infrastructure April 20, 2015 London’s technology sector may be basking in record levels of investment – £549m in the first quarter of this year alone – but maintaining its success will become increasingly dependent on the capital’s infrastructure being fit for the future. The growth of the digital economy over the past few years has irreversibly reshaped our city. [...]
Sports Direct scores extra points on profits May 28, 2015 SHARES in Sports Direct were quick off the mark yesterday after Mike Ashley’s sports retail empire said full-year profits were running ahead expectations. In an unscheduled update ahead of its annual conference for staff yesterday, Sport Direct said earnings for the year to 26 April would come in at £380m, roughly in line with market [...]
How can Yvette Cooper and the Labour party reset their relationship with business? May 19, 2015 Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper caught the attention of the City yesterday when she said that she wanted to consign the party’s anti-business image to the scrapheap. Distancing herself from Labour’s former leader Ed Miliband, who stepped down following the party’s severe defeat in the General Election, Cooper said Miliband had made a “mistake” by [...]
Clawback extended to 10 years as UK regulators Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority mull negative bonuses June 23, 2015 Bonuses could be clawed back for as long as a decade under new rules published by City regulators today. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed they were pushing ahead with rules for a wider seven-year claw-back period but that an added three years is being considered for senior managers. [...]
UK government’s Green Investment Bank joins E.On to fund Rampion offshore wind farm May 18, 2015 The government-backed UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) yesterday announced it has bought a £236m stake in a joint venture with E.On to build and own the Rampion offshore wind farm off the coast of Brighton. The project is receiving £1.3bn of funding in total, and will continue to be partly owned by Germany’s E.On following [...]
Natoora’s Franco Fubini on why he prefers Italy’s food to its labour laws June 28, 2015 It is a promising time for Britain’s premium food sector. Last year, sales of organic food rose by 4 per cent to £1.86bn and specialised suppliers have been looking to capitalise on a disenchantment with supermarkets. Franco Fubini is one of them. “I was in the fresh produce section of a chain of delicatessens [...]
Sainsbury’s sales fall for sixth successive quarter – with 2.1 pc fall June 10, 2015 Sainsbury's sales have fallen again, showing the supermarket giant is yet to shrug off the challenges facing the big four. The figures: Like-for-like sales were down 2.1 per cent for the first quarter of 2015. Food deflation and a competitive market were blamed for the poor sales figures, which were down 2.1 per cent for the [...]