At the close: FTSE 100 index closes down on Sports Direct, Old Mutual December 10, 2015 The FTSE 100 index slid in Thursday's trading despite gains by Glencore as both Sports Direct and Old Mutual tumbled. The index closed 0.63 per cent down at 6,088 points. Sports Direct slumped after Mike Ashley's retailer posted underwhelming first half results and the company was criticised for staff working conditions. Group revenue ticking up 0.1 per cent to £1.43bn, [...]
As Tesco’s share price drops to an 18-year low, it’s clear the rollercoaster ride will continue for some time yet December 10, 2015 Tesco has turned back time this week, with its share price dropping to an 18-year low. The less said about what was going on in 1997 the better – instead, we turn our focus to the rollercoaster ride that is the UK's largest retailer. Dave Lewis has certainly ushered in some change, but given where Tesco's [...]
London house prices: As the average property price soars to £600,000, Osborne’s measures to tackle the UK’s housing problem could risk making the problem worse December 10, 2015 For those hoping to get on the housing ladder, it's clear that not enough is being done to address the issue of ever-unattainable prices. While there is some evidence to suggest growth in London at least is slowing, figures out today show that the average price of a property in London has reached £600,000. Last week [...]
Ashley Madison, Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk: These are the 10 worst cyber attacks in 2015 December 10, 2015 From TalkTalk to Ashley Madison, major data breaches have scarcely been out of the headlines for a moment this year. 2015 has been the year when hacks really went through the roof, with millions of people having had their private data stolen in the UK alone and national governments scrambling to combat the growing threat [...]
Global law firm Pinsent Masons warns that proposed tax avoidance rules for large businesses could make HMRC “judge, jury and executioner” December 10, 2015 A global law firm has today criticised HM Revenue & Customs’s (HMRC) recently announced plans for cracking down on tax avoidance by businesses, saying that parts of the proposals would make HMRC the “judge, jury and executioner.” Further details on legislation that would allow the UK tax authority to place large businesses under special measures if [...]
Any Currency will do when picking up your winnings December 10, 2015 Bill Esdaile previews the best of the action from Cheltenham’s December meeting We've been treated to some great stories already this jumps season and the bandwagon rolls on to Cheltenham next for their two-day December meeting. Now, I wouldn’t normally lead one of these articles with the Cross Country Chase (Friday 2.20pm), but when there’s [...]
Tesco share price falls to an 18-year low: What was going on last time it was this low? December 10, 2015 Shares in embattled supermarket Tesco ended at an 18-year low yesterday, having closed down 2.27 per cent to 153.00p per share. The declines are part of an ongoing saga that the retailer has been battling for over a year now, but the failure of the top team to get to grips with the issues has led to [...]
Peer-to-peer lender MarketInvoice is lending £14,700 a minute as small businesses turn to alternative sources of finance December 10, 2015 More small business are turning to non-traditional forms of finance as they shun expensive overdrafts and bank loans. One peer-to-peer lender, MarketInvoice, which collects cash from individuals and lends it to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) against invoices, had its busiest ever morning today. Between 9am and 12 noon it lent £2.65m to SMEs, around £14,700 per minute, [...]
VW chief Matthias Mueller says “no plans” for asset sell-off as chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch blames “chain of errors” and company culture for CO2 emissions scandal December 10, 2015 Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller has insisted there are no plans – and no need – to sell of assets following the emissions scandal which has rocked the German car company. Speaking at as press conference with chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, he said there was no need to "even think about this question". "I'm not going to speculate about figures we [...]
The UK economy could gain almost 4,000 new jobs and £1.75bn worth of development if business rates were cut December 10, 2015 Cutting business rates could unlock around £1.75bn worth of development over the next five years, which is more than the development value of the Shard, Walkie Talkie and Cheesegrater combined. According to a report published today by the British Property Federation (BPF), British Council of Shopping Centers and British Council for Offices, reassessing how rates are applied would [...]
