Qatar Airways ramps up stake in British Airways owner IAG Qatar Airways yesterday said it has increased its stake in British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), at a time when the Gulf state is overhauling its business strategy due to the challenging oil market. The Gulf airline, which is fully government owned, has raised its holding in the FTSE 100-quoted airline group to [...]
Britons think a Brexit will boost our coffers in the long term, but they’re still voting to remain Britons believe a Brexit would cause a short term shock to the economy but leave us financially better off in the long term – but they’re still voting to remain in the EU. 26 per cent of respondents said that voting to leave the EU on 23 June would be better for Britain’s economy over [...]
Johnston Press shows signs of a turnaround after bumpy start to year Regional publisher Johnston Press, which recently bought the i newspaper, today said it expects its full-year results to be in line with expectations despite a challenging first quarter. In its trading update for 3 January 2016 to 30 April 2016, group revenue fell by 13.7 per cent, hit by a 16.9 per cent decline in [...]
Patisserie Holdings’ share price rises after unveiling sweet profits and revenues May 18, 2016 Patisserie Valerie owner Patisserie Holdings saw its share price soar by 4.4 per cent this morning after its half-year results revealed bumper revenues and profits. The Aim-listed company, which also owns the cafe chain Baker & Spice, reported a 14.4 per cent rise in revenue to £50m for the six months ended 31 March 2016, [...]
UK house sales and purchases set to jump by a fifth by 2020 – but will still be below 2007 levels May 18, 2016 UK housing transactions are set to jump by a fifth by 2020, but this will still be eight per cent lower than pre-financial crisis levels, according to a new report today. Conveyancing services provider My Home Move predicts that the number of annual property transactions will rise from the 1.23 million recorded last year to [...]
The glass ceiling: women make up half the UK’s lawyers but only a quarter of partners in top firms May 17, 2016 Women make up around half of all lawyers in the UK, but only a quarter of partners in large law firms are female, indicating that the glass ceiling is still very much in place. A survey into diversity in the legal sector by the Solicitors Regulation Authority found that while 47 per cent of qualified [...]
Plumbers ramp up fees on emergency call outs by 117 per cent May 17, 2016 Plumbers ramp up their fees by a staggering 117 per cent if they are called out in an emergency, new research has found. Householders who desperately need a tradesperson to fix a water leak end up paying a “plumber premium” on the normal hourly rate, with some plumbers quoting up to £300+VAT an hour, according to [...]
Job vacancies fall in April due to National Living Wage May 17, 2016 UK companies are hiring less staff due to the National Living Wage, a new report has concluded. The higher minimum wage was introduced on 1 April and means workers aged 25 and above must be paid at least £7.20 an hour, which equates to a pay rise for 1.3 million workers this year, according to [...]
London landlords left £1,869 out of pocket as vacant rental properties take almost three weeks to fill May 13, 2016 LONDON landlords are typically left with a 20 day vacancy between tenants, often amounting to lost income of £1,869, new research has shown. Despite the highly competitive rental market in the capital, letting agents claim that it takes almost three weeks to fill a property in London, although this is still two days less than [...]
Housing crisis: Retired Brits twice as likely to fund their children’s home deposits May 12, 2016 RETIRED parents in Britain are twice as likely to fund their children’s home deposits than their counterparts in other English-speaking countries, with London pensioners even more likely to support their offspring. Putting the housing affordability gap into stark relief, research commissioned by payments provider UKForex showed that out of 1,135 British retirees surveyed, 27 per [...]
