Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce achieves highest sales growth in 115-year history in 2018 January 10, 2019 Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce enjoyed a record-breaking year last year, as annual sales reached 4,107 cars – the highest in the marque's 115-year history. The main driver of growth was the company's Phantom model, which chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos called "flight on land, a magic carpet ride in its purest form". Donald Trump-driven tax reforms in [...]
New visa for architects as trade body calls for ‘drastic reform’ of UK immigration system post-Brexit January 10, 2019 The Home Office launched a visa scheme for exceptional architects today as the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) argues UK immigration legislation needs a drastic overhaul post-Brexit to safeguard the £4.8bn industry. From today architects will be able to apply for Tier 1 (exceptional talent) visas – the first bespoke immigration category available for [...]
Retail sector suffers worst Christmas in a decade as sales stagnate January 10, 2019 The UK retail sector has suffered its worst Christmas in a decade as sales stagnated during the crucial festive period, despite a string of positive updates offering a glimmer of hope. Overall retail sales were flat in December, the lowest level of growth since April and the worst festive performance since 2008, according to figures [...]
Passing May’s Brexit deal would make sterling surge, says JP Morgan January 9, 2019 The sterling would surge by at least four per cent if parliament approves Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit proposals in a planned vote next week, JP Morgan said. The bank’s asset management wing also warned about the potential impact of extending Article 50, something the government has ruled out. Karen Ward, the fund manager’s EMEA [...]
Will this be a year for investors to fear? January 9, 2019 A new year always offers the chance of a reset, of evolved thoughts, ideas and insights. Even though many will be pleased to see the back of 2018, numerous investors are beginning this year with new concerns: an oncoming recession. This fear seems suddenly rampant among many of my colleagues in the industry. But these fears [...]
John Bercow blasted by Tory Brexiters as Theresa May suffers another defeat January 9, 2019 Theresa May suffered yet another defeat over Brexit on Wednesday after a furious row erupted between Tory MPs and Commons Speaker John Bercow. Bercow was accused of not being impartial after accepting an amendment which would force the government to publish its Brexit ‘plan B’ within three days of a defeat on its deal, not [...]
DUP slams government’s wooing attempts in advance of Brexit deal vote January 9, 2019 A spokesman for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has slammed government proposals intended to get the support of the Northern Irish party for the Brexit deal as “fairly meaningless”. Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington, a key ally of Prime Minister Theresa May, had announced a series of pledges to try and sell the [...]
Poll: Three-quarters of MPs think Theresa May made a bad job of Brexit negotiations January 9, 2019 Nearly three-quarters of MPs feel that Theresa May has done a bad job of handling Brexit negotiations, according to a new poll. The annual poll of MPs – conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of The UK in a Changing Europe think tank and the Mile End Institute at the Queen Mary University of London [...]
Government analysis ‘sheds no more light’ on Brexit, says Treasury committee January 9, 2019 Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan has castigated the government over its Brexit outcome analyses, claiming it has shown the “most optimistic” model without addressing other factors including the short-term impact of leaving the EU. Morgan, who was among the rebel Tories that pushed the government into a historic defeat over no-deal powers yesterday, said [...]
Government dismisses hopes of a new Brexit deal as ‘fantasy’ January 9, 2019 The government dismissed MPs hopes an alternative Brexit deal as “magical” delusions this morning ahead of parliament’s crucial vote on the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there is no hope of negotiating a fresh deal with the EU if MPs vote down Theresa May’s [...]
