Business and Economics

Millions of workers set to work longer as Government bring forward state pension age increase. The GMB Union has attacked a Government announcement that a rise in the pension age to 68 has been brought forward. Ministers confirmed it will be phased in between 2037 and 2039, rather than by 2046 as was originally proposed. Six million men and women aged between 39 and 47 will have to wait a year longer to get their state pension as a result of...

British businesses must break their silence on the under-representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME) in key roles, according to new research from professional management body the CMI and the British Academy of Management. Only six per cent of management jobs in the UK are held by minorities – less than half their proportion of the working-age population as a whole. Yet new research finds that only 54 per cent of FTSE100 leaders are seen to be actively championing...

New analysis published today by Centre for London suggests that Brexit may already be having an impact on the capital, with fewer Europeans coming here for work, a slowdown in job creation, a loss of momentum in business confidence, and decelerating house price growth. Published to coincide with the launch of Centre for London’s new research programme, the analysis draws together unfolding demographic, housing, transport, economic and quality of life data. This analysis is found in The London Intelligence, Centre...

Job vacancies in London rose by an impressive 11 per cent in the second quarter of 2017. Despite growing uncertainty in the run up to the general election last month, data published today suggests that businesses in London remained confident in Q2 2017, with job vacancies and applications showing a promising increase. The Q2 job market report from CV-Library, compared data from April, May and June 2017 with data from the same period last year, and found that there were 11 per cent more...

Citizens Advice has recommended that every household in the UK should get a one-off £285 rebate on fuel bills after energy networks claim £7.5 billion in "unjustified" profits over the past eight years. The independent charity says the network of firms had enjoyed a multi-billion pound windfall at the expense of consumers, blaming regulator Ofgem for "errors in judgement". According to their research National Grid made an operating profit of more than £4 billion in 2015/16,  although the company's annual accounts show that around a quarter...

The GMB Union responded to the 'disappointing' Taylor Review as the report was published today. While the union welcomed recommendations such as scrapping the long despised Swedish Derogation and the acceptance that the Gig Economy isn't working for workers, it challenged the Government to grasp the nettle and tackle the whole of the precarious economy. Matthew Taylor, who was commissioned last year by the Prime Minister to carry out this review, will today publish his 7 principles to achieve “good...

  By Barry Jotter Philip Hammond's statement that the global trade deals promised by Theresa May after Brexit will make little difference to the British economy is the smoking gun of pragmatism. ‘Much of our trade with the world is service trade, where free trade agreements won’t make any particular difference,’ said the Chancellor. What this statement means is that of the 14.6% of the UK economy that is based on production, very little is of it is exported outside...

If your business depends on products being delivered to customers in perfect condition and on time every time, then the warehousing component of your supply chain management is one that you cannot afford to ignore. Even if you think your warehousing processes are up to scratch, innovations in process management and technology can make a remarkable difference in quality and efficiency. This means better output at lower cost, an equation that sounds attractive whichever way you look at it. Let's...

Germany's financial centre Frankfurt is "confident" of poaching London's  €930 billion clearing industry after Brexit. Hubertus Väth, managing director of Frankfurt Main Finance, which lobbies for its financial centre, told Business Insider he was confident the EBA, Europe's banking authority, would move to Frankfurt, and confident in the arguments for bringing Euro clearing to the city if it does move from London. He said: "We are confident about it. I cannot say it will be the likely decision of such a...