Business

UK companies in the manufacturing and service sector have indicated that they are struggling to recruit skilled staff because of uncertainty around Britain's future with the European Union.  Brexit has been blamed as 81 per cent of manufacturers and 70 per cent of service sector firms report difficulties recruiting the right skilled staff for their organisations. At the same time they are being hit with rising costs and a reduction in sales. This perfect storm could send many businesses to...

There has been widespread public outcry after a shipping contract was handed out to a company, with no ships or experience of running a shipping line, in no Brexit deal scenario.  Transport Secretary Chris Grayling claimed it was fine to hand out the £13million contract because "it's a new start-up business" He said it was "no problem" despite Seaborne Freight being expected to run emergency ferries if there's no deal over Brexit and would be running essential services to keep...

Brits take an average of FOUR days to get 'back in the saddle' after the holiday period, according to a survey. A study of 2,000 adults shows the majority of us won’t start functioning properly until almost a full working week has passed. Re-adjusting to early mornings, the mountain of work which has piled up over the festive break and having to deal with challenging clients all take their toll in early January. Others find it hard to get in...

In another Brexit story you couldn’t make up, a very lucrative contract has been agreed with a business that will run extra ferries if a ‘no-deal’ Brexit takes place, but has no ships,and has not previously operated a service. Seaborne Freight was one of three companies awarded contracts totalling £108m last week to lay on additional freight crossings to ease the pressure on Dover. Seaborne’s contract is for £13.8m and they have defended themselves amid criticism it doesn’t currently have any shipping...

Stocks are falling in London, as traders rush to sell following last night’s hike in US interest rates. It is the worst performance since Sept 2016. When the markets opened for trading the FTSE 100 shed 119 points (1.6%), which is a new 28-month low of 6646 points. Over in the US, Wall Street stocks slumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates, sending major indices to fresh 2018 lows, even as the US central bank signaled it...

The Cabinet will today order Britain's six million businesses to start immediate preparations for No Deal Brexit. With just 100 days left until D-Day and negotiations stalled the likelihood of Britain withdrawing from the European Union without a deal in place is looking increasingly likely. Labour MP David Lammy has warned a no deal Brexit would be the "single most destructive government failure in peace time" and would cause "huge damage to the economy and probable recession". But the Prime...

Jaguar Land Rover's announcement that it plans to axe up to 5,000 jobs shows a "Brexit bomb is exploding over Britain’s manufacturing industry", The Independent's Chief Business Commentator James Moore has said. The car manufacturer said it will be making thousands of job cuts in the new year as part of a £2.5 billion savings plan to ward off the threat from Brexit, falling sales in China and a drop in demand for diesel cars. Britain’s biggest carmaker employs 40,000 in the...

Sir Richard Branson thinks a no-deal Brexit would "near bankrupt" the UK. Branson made these comments to the BBC.  He was "absolutely certain" that leaving the EU without a deal would cause the closure of "quite a few British businesses". Sir Richard was speaking from the Mojave desert in California when he said: "I think Theresa May needs to be 100% honest with the public. "She's admitted that a hard Brexit would be an absolute disaster for the British people. "From...

As the UK falls into chaos over leaving the EU, the EU itself has gone on and approved a huge trade deal with Japan starting in 2019. The European Parliament voted 474 to 156 in favour of the plan to bind the two economic powerhouses. This will create the world’s largest free trade area totally around a third of the earth’s GDP. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement: “This will bring clear benefits to our companies, farmers,...