Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today announced it will axe a third of its global petrol station network and shed a further 1,000 jobs by the end of next year, as part of its ongoing cost cutting programme. The Anglo-Dutch firm, which is Britain’s second largest oil company, has been hit by a slump [...]
Figures published by the Federal Reserve today revealed a marginal rise in US industrial production in February. According to the US central bank, industrial output rose by just 0.1% in the month and followed a 0.9% increase in January. However, the small rise was better than the zero percent that analysts had forecast after severe [...]
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), South Korea’s share of the global car market grew to an all-time high of 5.7% in 2009. The KAMA said South Korea produced a total of 3.513 million vehicles last year – 5.7% of the 61.295 million total worldwide. As a result, the country retained its ranking [...]
Chinese state media has reported that annual car sales and production in China has accelerated and topped the 12 million mark to the end of November. In addition, the Xinhua News Agency reported that the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers expects car sales and production to exceed 13 million units for the full year. China [...]
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK car production fell 16% in September compared with the same month last year. However, the SMMT said it was the smallest fall for 12 months and was considerably less than the annual rate of fall of 31.5% reported in August. The SMMT attributed the [...]
The Office for National Statistics has today revealed a rise in UK manufacturing output during July, boosted by a sharp improvement up in car production. Factory output rose by 0.9% in July when compared with the previous month – treble the figure that analysts had forecast and the fastest rate in 18 months. However, output [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed a further rise in car sales as a result of the Government’s car scrappage scheme. The scheme, which was launched on 18 May to boost the ailing car industry, pays consumers £2,000 to get rid of their old cars and replace it with a [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed a fall in car production but said the fall was eased by the car scrappage scheme. According to the SMMT, there were 107,635 cars made in the UK in July 2009 – a fall of 17.9% compared with the same month a year earlier. [...]
There are hopes that the UK’s beleaguered manufacturing industry is recovering after the Purchasing Managers’ Index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) said output in the industry rose for the first time since March 2008 in June. The index showed a reading of 52.1 – anything above 50 is positive and indicates [...]
The world’s second largest economy received some good news today with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announcing that industrial production was up 5.9% in May from a month earlier. The gain was the third consecutive monthly rise with manufacturers predicting that output will rise 3.1% in June and 0.9% in July. However, despite [...]
Figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed a sharp fall in UK car production. According to the SMMT, car production fell 55.3% in April compared with the same month in 2008. A total of 68,258 cars were made in April, while the total for the year to date [...]
After continued fear of the threat of the global economic downturn spreading to Asia, as well as the car industry across the world, has pushed oil prices below $50. Energy analysts have not found a reason to suggest that oil prices will rebound like they did at the end of last month, from $40 per [...]
Last month saw an unexpected rise in the number of orders for US durable goods having rebounded by 3.4 percent following an increase in demand for machinery and defence goods, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday. After six consecutive declines, February’s increase is the sharpest since August 2005 and is well above the 1.2 percent decline [...]
Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed a significant fall in UK car production. According to the SMMT, 61,404 news cars were produced last month, almost 60% down compared with than January 2008, primarily due to the slump in demand for new vehicles which has resulted in many plant [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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