Aldi to hire 35,000 new staff for expanding discount drive November 10, 2014 GERMAN discounter Aldi is to create 35,000 new jobs and employ up to 1,000 apprentices as it continues to expand its presence in the UK, the company announced yesterday. During a visit from the Prime Minister David Cameron to the chain’s headquarters in Atherstone, Warwickshire, Aldi reiterated its commitment to increasing the number of stores [...]
Ed Miliband stokes fear over UK exit from EU in bid to salvage relationship with business leaders November 10, 2014 Ed Miliband will today bid to fix his strained relationship with business leaders by assuring a CBI conference that, if elected to Downing Street, he will quash any threat of the UK leaving the European Union. The speech comes as the Labour leader faces growing unrest from within his own party. While senior colleagues [...]
David Cameron prepares for revolt over EU arrest warrant November 10, 2014 David Cameron is readying himself for a revolt on his own backbenches today over the government’s decision to opt back into the EU arrest warrant. MPs will be given the opportunity to vote on plans to sign back up to the controversial measure, which gives states within the European Union extradition powers, alongside 34 other [...]
Cut employee National Insurance payments, CBI tells politicians November 10, 2014 THE CONFEDERATION of British Industry (CBI) will today use its annual conference to lobby politicians for a cut in employee National Insurance payments. The business organisation will make the case for increasing the threshold for payments to £10,500, putting £363 back in the pockets of dual-income households and raising living standards across the country. The [...]
MPs attack quangos as unclear, confused and unaccountable November 10, 2014 Quangos, organisations funded by government but which operate independently, are “unaccountable, confused and neglected”, a report out today has found. The damning conclusion, which likens quangos to film the Matrix, where “doors open on virtual worlds which are insulated from reality and hidden from the public and from those meant to be accountable for them”, [...]
Is Ed Miliband holding the Labour Party back from winning the general election next year? November 9, 2014 Kate McCann is political reporter at City A.M, says Yes. Labour is in the midst of an odd sort of crisis. On the surface, the party is doing alright – it is generally ahead in the polls, despite a surprisingly united Tory party, and has a couple of vote-winning policies to its name. Yet below [...]
George Osborne heads to Brussels to argue against £1.7bn EU bill November 6, 2014 George Osborne is today expected to argue that the UK will not accept an instalment deal to pay the £1.7bn bill Brussels has demanded in full over the course of 2015, after a spokesman for the Prime Minister said that this would be “unacceptable”. The chancellor has been sent to negotiate a reduction in the [...]
Senior Labour figures play down Miliband plot but jitters remain November 6, 2014 SENIOR Labour figures last night played down claims that a number of its MPs want leader Ed Miliband to step down, despite a clutch of anonymous sources claiming the party was on the brink of collapse. One of Miliband’s closest advisers, Lord Stewart Wood, told CityAM that he was yet to hear anyone call [...]
The full package: DS Smith buys Andopack November 6, 2014 BRITISH packaging company DS Smith announced yesterday that it had acquired Spanish corrugated board producer Andopack. The acquisition cost DS Smith £35m, including assumption of debt, the recycled packaging supplier said in a statement yesterday. Issuing a trading update alongside the news, DS Smith said performance was in line with expectations, adding that growth was [...]
FirstGroup is on the right track with boost in pre-tax profit November 5, 2014 Transport operator FirstGroup announced a welcome boost in pre-tax profit yesterday, up £9.9m for the first half of the year, following an £8m loss in the 2013 period. But the positive news was delivered with a caveat, after revenue slid 10.9 per cent to £2.9bn from £3.3bn a year before. First said the change reflected [...]
