Who is Nan Shepherd? All your questions about Royal Bank of Scotland’s new £5 note star answered April 25, 2016 Much ooh-ing and ahh-ing this morning, after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) unveiled the next "character" to feature on its Scottish £5 note: Nan Shepherd. Er, who? The news came just days after the Bank of England revealed which superstar artist will appear on its next £20 note – but led to a bit of confusion among those not [...]
Oil prices fall back from $45 a barrel as investors cash in one week after failed Doha meeting April 25, 2016 Oil prices slipped back on early monday morning, falling below $45 a barrel again, as investors booked profits off the back of a good few weeks for buyers of the black stuff. Brent Crude was trading at $44.60 on Monday morning, down 1.13 per cent from Friday's close. The price had dipped as low as $44.49 at one stage. [...]
Week ahead: Brexit expected to knock GDP and earnings April 25, 2016 Concerns over Britain leaving the European Union are expected to have weighed on gross domestic product (GDP) over the first quarter of 2016. Economists are expecting to see growth cooled to 0.4 per cent in the last three months, when the latest numbers are released on Wednesday. In the fourth quarter of last year the [...]
Premier Foods’ top shareholder criticises board for “arrogance” over failed bid talks April 24, 2016 Premier Foods’ third biggest investor has criticised the company’s board for its “arrogance” and backed the idea of its chairman resigning after bid talks with US suitor McCormick collapsed. US hedge fund Paulson & Co. said: “We have not written a letter asking for his resignation but would certainly support the idea.” The firm added [...]
Chinese consumers are changing their habits rapidly as luxury has suffered a slow death and online takes off April 24, 2016 Beijing is awash with restaurants, but locals Cherry and Andy Ho haven’t bothered going out to eat for months. The proliferation of Groupon-style coupons and deals means it’s easier to have food delivered. It’s half the cost, with no delivery charge – great for consumers, but not so good for some traditional businesses. Indeed, this was among [...]
Chinese billionaire in talks to sell House of Fraser stake to Hamleys owner April 24, 2016 The Chinese billionaire owner of House of Fraser is in talks to sell a stake in the department store chain, two years after buying it in a £480m deal. Sanpower, the Chinese conglomerate chaired by Yuan Yafei, bought House of Fraser in 2014 through its subsidiary Nanjing Xinjiekou, which operates a chain of department stores in China's Nanjing province. The [...]
Creative industries hiring from abroad as record employment creates skills shortage April 23, 2016 Britain's record employment rate has led to skills shortages in manufacturing, construction and financial services, but now it is taking its toll on the creative industries. Firms in animation, game design and visual effects – most of which are based in London – are turning to foreign graduates to plug skills gaps in the sector, [...]
The Bank of England just unveiled the artist who will feature on the next £20 note (spoiler: it’s not a woman) April 22, 2016 It's been a nail-biting few months while the Bank of England has um-ed and ah-ed over which artist should feature on its next banknote – and the results are in. During a (relatively, for the Bank of England) glitzy launch ceremony in Margate, artist Tracey Emin unveiled the new £20 note – featuring JMW Turner. The artist, [...]
Accountants warn that UK households are suffering from “massive over-indebtedness” April 22, 2016 Britain’s accountants have sounded the alarm bells over what they see as dangerously high levels of debt across Britain. In a new report, launched today, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), said a “growing amount of evidence indicated [there was] a massive over-indebtedness by vulnerable groups in UK society”. Unsurprisingly, students, the self-employed and [...]
Grexit: Europe tells Greece there will be no discussion about writing off any of its bailout debt April 22, 2016 The European Commission has told Greece it is not considering writing off any of the €86bn (£67.5bn) handed over during the Greek bailout crisis, as it aims to have a new package of reforms wrapped up within the next week. Finance chiefs from Eurozone countries gathered in Amsterdam this morning to discuss the latest progress on the Greek bailout, [...]
