In order to avoid a bailout, the Italian senate is set to vote on austerity measures, which proposes cuts of €48 billion (£42 billion) over the next three years. The country’s Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti, is aiming to cut the deficit to zero by 2014 from this year’s 3.9% of GDP. Mr Tremonti said the [...]
Greece’s parliament has today approved the fresh round of austerity measures – designed to save the country from defaulting on its debts. The measures were one of the conditions of the next instalment of its bailout loan. MPs passed the measures by 155 votes to 138. The latest austerity measures will according to Prime Minister [...]
Spencer Dale, one of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members, has warned that rising inflation is a “significant risk” to the UK economy. Mr Dale, who is the Bank of England’s chief economist, said the UK can expect some tough times ahead over the next few years and said he is “not [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is tomorrow expected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 19th consecutive month. Many economists expect no movement on interest rates until early 2011. Meanwhile, all nine members of the MPC are expected to keep the quantitative easing [...]
Talks are ongoing between airports operator BAA and the Unite union to try to avoid strike action which could see six UK airports shut down over the crucial bank holiday period. Face-to-face talks between the two parties are taking place at the central London offices of the conciliation service ACAS and comes after BAA voted [...]
Travel chaos is looming after airport operator, BAA, has voted in favour of strike action, the Unite union has announced today. BAA, which is majority owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, owns six airports: Heathrow, Stansted, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Southampton. These airports would have to close on any strike days, as crucial staff including fire-fighters, security [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-1 earlier this month to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5% – where they have been since March 2009. Again, the usual nine-strong committee comprised of only eight members as [...]
Workers at motoring group AA have voted in favour of going on strike in a row over pensions. The AA’s management wants to put a cap on annual rises in pensionable salaries, to raise employee contributions and also to cut the maximum annual increase in pensions paid. The final-salary scheme is already closed to new [...]
The GMB trade union has today announced staff at British Gas have voted in favour of industrial action over claims of “macho management” and changes to staff terms and conditions. The union has given the UK’s largest energy retailer a week to respond before deciding its next move. GMB said over 61% of its 8,000 [...]
Fears of travel chaos could emerge later as the results of a ballot is set to be announced. A second strike ballot for British Airways (BA) 12,000 cabin crew members is to close today after they vowed to take industrial action over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze and a switch to part-time working [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s February meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously this month to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5%. Furthermore, all nine members of the MPC opted to put the brakes on the quantitative easing (QE) programme. QE, also [...]
Chairman Roger Carr, chief executive Todd Stitzer and chief financial officer Andrew Bonfield of Cadbury have announced today that they will step down from the British confectioner. The three bosses announced their resignations following a shareholder vote which will see US food giant, Kraft, takeover the 186-year-old iconic British company in a £11.5 billion ($18.9 [...]
Cadbury shareholders have today voted in favour of the £11.5 billion ($18.9 billion) takeover deal from US giant, Kraft Foods. Today’s vote brings an end to Kraft’s five-month battle to take control of the 186-year-old British confectioner. Cadbury said it had received valid acceptances of the offer from shareholders representing 71.7% of the company. Commenting [...]
Fifty-six-year old Ben Bernanke has won a second term as chairman of US central bank, the Federal Reserve. The US Senate confirmed the appointment after it voted 77-23 in favour of Bernanke, whose current term ends on Sunday. At the time of his nomination last August, US President Barack Obama said: “Mr Bernanke had helped [...]
It emerged in December that Yorkshire Building Society and Chelsea Building Society were in advanced merger talks and the deal is moving a step closer after YBS members voted in favour of the merger. Around 87% of savers and 85% of borrowers voted in favour of the merger, which members of the Chelsea have already [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s January meeting have been released today and have revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously this month to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5%. Furthermore, all nine members of the MPC opted to leave its quantitative easing (QE) programme unchanged at £200 billion. QE, [...]
The UK Payments Council has today voted to phase out cheques on 31 October 2018, but has pledged to “promote and explain” alternatives over the next 9 years. The use of the cheque book has been in decline for many years as consumers opt for quicker payment methods. Major retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s [...]
The use of the cheque book continues to decline as consumers opt for quicker payment methods and, as a result, the cheque clearing system could end by 2018. Major retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s no longer accept cheques, arguing that phasing out the use of cheques in stores resulted in quicker service and improved [...]
British Airways (BA) cabin crew are set to cast their vote on whether strike action will take place. The Unite trade union is predicting that 14,000 air stewards and stewardesses will vote in favour of strike action over the Christmas period in a dispute over cost-cutting measures. The measures include a two-year pay freeze for [...]
Barclays’ staff are set to vote on whether to strike over the closure of its final-salary pension scheme. The Unite union said the ballot will take place in August with potential industrial action taking place across the bank in September, which will “significantly impact” the bank’s operations. The decision to close its final-salary pension scheme [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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