Memo from business to politicians: Don’t let the EU referendum paralyse real governing February 24, 2016 So now it’s official. Britain’s politicians and opinion-formers will spend the next four months in hyper-drive, as they seek to convince the public of the case to leave or remain in the European Union. Many Westminster-watchers have already cleared the decks, reasoning that little else will get done while megaphone diplomacy, claims, and counter-claims dominate the [...]
MPs raise new concerns around the funding of local authority care provision December 2, 2015 The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has raised concerns about the funding of local authority care services in a new report due out today. The report, which reviews how the Care Act has been implemented so far, warns that “carers and the people they care for may not get the services they need because of continuing [...]
Weak FTSE index should give Osborne sleepless nights December 14, 2015 How many people, back in January, were predicting that the FTSE 100 index would start with a “5” come December? Certainly not the experts at one leading bank (we’ll grant anonymity… for now) who forecast a reading close to 8,000, or its more restrained peers who thought the blue-chip index would be in the low-to-mid [...]
UK’s pension system is still lagging behind: landmark freedoms have not gone far enough say critics October 22, 2015 Sweeping reforms to the UK pension system do not go far enough, according to an international report that says Britain fares badly compared to many peer countries. Despite recent changes, the UK's public and state pensions remain "almost entirely unfunded", say analysts from the Melbourne Mercer Global Pensions Index (MMGPI), while the basic state pension [...]
EasyJet share price on track for biggest rise in two years as summer success lifts full-year expectations September 3, 2015 A record number of passengers and cheap fuel prices have offset difficulties faced by the low-cost airline earlier in the year. The figures Budget airline EasyJet has said it carried a total of 7.1m passengers in August – a one-month record for the company. Similarly, the proportion of seats occupied on flights reached an all-time [...]
Economists vote to wait on rate hike July 8, 2015 City A.M.’s panel of economists voted eight to one in favour of holding interest rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent this month. Strong wage growth was viewed as a sign that inflation was likely to creep back up towards its two per cent target was likely later this year. Inflation rose to [...]
Building the next five years in alternative finance: How marketplace lending is becoming part of industry furniture July 15, 2015 When we look back, 2015-16 will be seen as the watershed moment: when peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and crowdfunding made the big time, transitioning from quirky innovation to a respected alternative source of finance and investment opportunities. The government has clearly been persuaded of the potential benefits of so-called alternative finance – especially as a [...]
Summer transfer targets: Who Arsenal and Manchester United need to buy in the window May 17, 2015 Arsenal and Manchester United showed yesterday that they both need strengthening if they are to truly challenge Chelsea next season, but the two clubs will have to take fundamentally different approaches. For the Gunners, summer business ought to focus on making one or two high-class additions in certain key positions to improve what is [...]
From the solar eclipse and the Budget to the FTSE 100 hitting 7,000: Here’s what got us talking this week March 20, 2015 There was a solar eclipse and toxic smog. There was a red box. And there was a lesser-spotted yellow box. Here's what got us talking this week. 1. The FTSE 100 hit 7,000 for the first time After what felt like weeks of playing hard to get, the FTSE 100 finally gave it [...]
Countdown to the General Election January 27, 2015 A guide to the key events taking place in the lead up to the crunch vote. FEB 12th February HALF-TERM The Commons and Lords get a final break before campaigning kicks off in earnest 27th February UKIP SPRING CONFERENCE Nigel Farage has decided to host his Spring Conference in Margate – practically next door to [...]