Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 13 Desember 2014 | 18.56
More than £110bn has been wiped off the value of Britain's leading companies as the FTSE 100 suffered its worst week in three years.
The index closed down 161.07 points on Friday, a loss of 2.49%, making an overall drop of 6.6% since Monday - the largest weekly fall since August 2011.
The slide reflected a new five-year low for the price of Brent crude and worries about the global outlook, particularly after more disappointing economic figures from China.
The FTSE 100 is dominated by business with an interest in the energy and commodity sectors, meaning it has taken a bigger hit from weak oil prices.
Oil stocks have taken a hit as weakening demand and the prospect of oversupply sparked a fall in the price of oil by 10% this week to around $62 (£39.50) a barrel.
Video:What's Causing Falling Oil Prices?
The International Energy Agency on Friday cut its forecast for global demand for the fourth time in five months.
BP shares have fallen by 9% since the start of the week and are a fifth cheaper in the year to date.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week down 677.96 points or 3.8%, while markets in France and Germany were down by nearly 3%.
Video:13 Nov: Why Is The Oil Price Down?
Traders were reacting negatively to the plunge in the oil price despite the likelihood that it could represent a $4bn (£2.5bn) stimulus to the world economy.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said markets are mulling the question of whether a lower oil price is a "symptom or a cure" for weak global demand.
He said: "The answer is it is probably both, but the restorative qualities of a lower oil price are going to take some time to feed through, and in the meantime markets are focusing on the negatives."
Ministers will next week hail a "landmark" deal with Britain's nine biggest lenders to offer millions of consumers a new fee-free basic bank account.
Sky News has learnt that the Treasury will announce on Monday that the banks will establish accounts which end charges - whcih can be as high as £35 per item - for failed direct debit or standing order payments.
The new product will be provided by institutions which between them have more than 90% of the current account market, and will be available to people who are not eligible for a bank's standard current account and either have no bank account, or cannot use their existing accounts because of financial problems.
The participating lenders - which have agreed to launch the accounts by the end of next year - are Barclays, the Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, National Australia Bank (which owns the Clydesdale and Yorkshire), Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK and TSB.
Andrea Leadsom, the economic secretary to the Treasury, is expected to hail the development as a "landmark" agreement, saying that it should bring to an end the problem of consumers being locked out of their accounts when payments fail.
Sky News had previously revealed that some banks had expressed concerns during negotiations with the Government about the terms of the deal.
The provision of basic bank accounts, of which there are estimated to be more than 9m in the UK, is estimated to cost the industry more than £300m annually, with the new accounts likely to add substantially to that bill.
Earlier this year, a European Union Directive ordered member states to supervise the introduction of basic accounts which must charge fees described as "fair".
Ministers are understood to be pleased that they have secured an agreement to launch accounts with no fees, with customers offered services on the same terms as other personal current accounts provided by each participating lender.
This will involve customers having access to all standard over-the-counter services in bank and Post Office branches, as well as access to the entire national ATM network.
Some bank executives have warned that the structure agreed with the Treasury will mean that the new accounts are ultimately subsidised by consumers elsewhere in the banking system.
A further concern was raised that the new account could attract demand from large numbers of consumers who are not benefit claimants, but this is likely to have been alleviated by the eligibility restrictions agreed between the lenders and the Treasury.
The Government estimates that up to 7m people will participate in the Universal Credit welfare programme by 2019, with the new basic account expected to be restricted to that population.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has been leading the negotiations with the Treasury about the framework of the plans.
Neither the BBA nor the Treasury would comment on Friday.
More than 100 flights have been cancelled and many others delayed after a major computer failure grounded planes in London and the South.
A glitch at the state-of-the-art UK air traffic control centre headquarters in Swanwick, Hampshire, caused severe disruption.
For a time no aircraft were able to take off at some of the UK's major airports. Some flights were allowed to land.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the disruption was "simply unacceptable" and revealed the Government had asked NATS for a full explanation.
The computer problem is at Swanwick air traffic control centre
It was reported airspace over London had been closed but air traffic control company NATS denied this, saying airspace capacity was "restricted in order to manage the situation".
NATS later said the system had been restored and it was in the process of returning services to normal.
Video:Passengers Left Waiting On Planes
The glitch lasted from 3.27pm to 4.03pm and Sky sources said a flight planning server had failed.
Airports affected by the disruption included Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City.
Aberdeen and Edinburgh were also hit by the computer problem. Other airports that reported delays included Birmingham, Manchester, Luton and Bristol.
Heathrow said at least 75 flights have been cancelled and up to 400 delayed.
It said the problem was likely to have a knock-on effect for flights on Saturday because aircraft and crew will not be in the correct positions.
Gatwick saw 15 cancellations and London City between 10 and 15.
Video:What Is Causing Airspace Problems?
British Airways said: "We are working hard to look after our customers who have been affected by the air traffic control failure experienced by all airlines at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.
"We anticipate disruption to both departing and arriving aircraft but will do all we can to minimise any impact."
Speaking to Sky News, NATS managing director of operations Martin Rolfe defended his organisation's handling of the chaos.
"It was a technical failure at our Swanwick centre which handles 6,500 flights a day," he said.
"We went through our backup systems and restored things relatively quickly but not without delays to passengers, which we hugely regret.
"These things are relatively rare. We are a very busy island for air traffic control, so we're always going to be operating near capacity.
Video:Timelapse: Skies Clear Over London
"What we've seen today is a very quick response. We didn't close any airports, we didn't close any airspace. We reduced the flow to make sure everything could be handled safely."
East Midlands and Birmingham airports said they were virtually unaffected.
One passenger caught up in the travel chaos was Matt Warren. He tweeted: "Stuck on the tarmac at Heathrow airport. Air traffic control failures. No flights in or out."
David Fitzgerald, who was stuck in a plane on the tarmac at Gatwick, should have been going to Dublin for a 3pm departure.
"We were boarding but then we were told the news there was a major failure at air-traffic control," he said.
"The good news is that some aircraft are being allowed to leave using a lower flight level - it's only the higher flight level that's affected."
Video:November: How Busy Is UK Airspace?
Nick Adderley, a police chief superintendent, was also stuck on the tarmac at Gatwick after trying to fly home to Manchester.
He told Sky News: "This is a business flight for me… [I am] trying to get home after a business meeting in London.
"There are a number of people on board trying to get connecting flights to go on holiday. The spirits are pretty high. The mood is pretty good at the moment."
The centre at Swanwick has been subject to a number of computer glitches since NATS moved there from its old headquarters in West Drayton in west London in the early part of the last decade.
One of the worst problems was a year ago - on Saturday 7 December 2013 - when thousands of passengers were left stranded when hundreds of flights were grounded following a technical fault at the Hampshire centre.
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 Desember 2014 | 18.56
Petrol is set to fall to a four-year low as a leading supermarket prepares slash its price by 2p a litre.
Asda said it will bring its price for unleaded down to 112.7p a litre tomorrow which will mean it is at its cheapest since October 2010 and down 14p since September this year.
It will also be reducing the cost of diesel by 1p to 118.7p a litre.
The move comes after other supermarkets introduced a number of fuel reductions over the last few weeks amid falling oil prices.
Crude oil is trading at around $63 a barrel, a fall of 40 percent since June as increased US shale production and a refusal by the oil cartel to cut production last week adds to oversupply.
Video:13 Nov: Why Is The Oil Price Down?
The world's top energy watchdog has put further downward pressure on the price as it slashed its oil demand forecast for next year.
The International Energy Agency said that world demand will grow by 900,000 barrels per day, down 230,000 from its previous estimate.
It said that the cheap oil was not leading to more consumption and in rich countries "a tepid economic recovery, weak wage growth and ... deflationary pressures will further blunt the stimulus of lower prices".
Household water bills should fall by around £20 over the next five years, the industry watchdog has ruled.
The 5% real-terms drop, excluding inflation, would see average bills come down from £396 to £376 by the end of the decade, according to Ofwat.
The pricing decision by the regulator confirms a provisional determination in August.
A request by Thames Water to increases charges by 3% was rejected
When the process for setting bills began last year, water companies had submitted plans which would on average have cut bills by 2% in real terms.
Ofwat rejected a request by the UK's biggest water company, Thames Water, to increase household charges by 3% over the period 2015-20 to help pay for the £4.2bn super-sewer project.
The firm, which serves around 14 million customers in and around London, has been told it must instead cut them by 5%.
It also said utility firms must improve efforts to tackle water leakage, supply interruptions, sewerage water flooding of properties and see cleaner water at beaches.
Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross said: "With bills held down by 5% and service driven up over the next five years, customers will get more and pay less.
"Where companies stepped up to do the best they could for their customers we did not need to intervene, but where companies fell short we stepped in to make sure customers get a good deal.
"Now the hard work begins. Companies will only build trust and confidence with their customers if they deliver.
"Those who do can look forward to fair returns, while those that don't will be hit in the pocket and face a tough five years ahead."
All 18 companies were told to cut bills in real terms, 10 of which which supply both water and sewerage services.
United, which had asked last December to keep bills flat in real terms, was told to cut them by 3%.
Bristol Water - which is a water supplier only - had asked to put bills up by 1% but was instead told to cut them by 21%.
Anglian was told to cut bills by 10%, Welsh Water Dwr Cymru by 5%, Northumbrian (including Essex and Suffolk) by 1%, Severn Trent by 5%, Southern by 8%, South West by 7%, Wessex by 9% and Yorkshire by 3%.
New charges will come into effect in April 2015.
Ofwat said companies have two months in which to accept its final determination or seek a referral to the Competition and Markets Authority.
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Yodel says the suspended collections is aimed at clearing the bottleneck
A courier firm handling a large number of Christmas online shopping deliveries has suspended new collections for up to two days.
Yodel, whose clients include Amazon and Marks and Spencer, has put on hold handling new parcels while it deals with a backlog from Black Friday.
Customers have taken to Twitter to vent their frustration
While the company stresses it is continuing to make deliveries, the temporary freeze on collecting further parcels for distribution will lead to delays of up to three days for goods to arrive.
Recent retail promotions such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have led to a surge in online orders for goods, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
1/18
Gallery: Black Friday: Madness In The Shops
Yes, really. Shoppers have wrestled over a television. It has come that, people. "Black Friday" is in full swing in Britain and the stiff upper lip Brits are famous for has well and truly left the building. This photo was taken at an Asda in Wembley, north London
Britain's high streets, shopping centres and websites have been awash with discounts as more retailers than ever embraced US-style promotions, seeking to kickstart trading in the key Christmas period
]]>
The police had to be called in at several supermarkets around the country overnight as thousands of customers hunted for bargains
]]>
The rush to grab a deal soon descended into chaos as fights broke out at stores and websites of leading chains buckled under the strain. Continue through for more pictures
]]>
Websites of leading retailers have been crippling under the weight of clicks
]]>
Yodel has apologised to customers, and said it expects to resume normal service by Monday.
But angry shoppers have been venting their frustration on Twitter over delivery delays.
Nick Fowler tweeted: "Hi, ordered over 2 weeks ago still nothing and Yodel tracking just says awaiting collection."
One exasperated post by James & Courtney said: "Never use Yodel. Been waiting a week and a half for a parcel on 24hr service."
Marke branded Yodel "the absolute worst", while Naomi Dolby said her experience over a delayed parcel had been "absolutely shocking".
She wrote: "I can't get hold of a real person at Yodel to track it down."
And in reply to one customer's delivery query the bookseller Waterstones tweeted: "Yodel are currently handling more parcels than they expected, so some deliveries are taking longer than we would like."
Yodel said retail promotions such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday had led to "unexpectedly high parcel volumes across the carrier industry".
In response there had been a "deferment" on some new parcels coming into its sorting centres.
It said in a statement: "By Monday we expect to resume our normal service. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our clients and their customers.
"We are working closely with our clients on their forecasted parcel volumes for the coming weeks, based on this we are confident that the action we are taking will ensure that normal service is resumed after the weekend."
In a Q&A for concerned customers on its website, Yodel said: "We spent months planning for Christmas, but even with our experience and those of our clients we underestimated how massive the spikes would be. (We were not alone!)
"The whole of the retail supply chain has felt the impact. Retailer websites have been crashing, there have been backlogs in distribution centres and all parcel delivery companies have felt the strain."
Posing the question of "Who came up with the idea of Black Friday?", the firm joked: "We don't know but if you find out please can you let us know as we would like a chat with them!"
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Yodel Suspends Collections Hitting Deliveries
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Yodel says the suspended collections is aimed at clearing the bottleneck
A courier firm handling a large number of Christmas online shopping deliveries has suspended new collections for up to two days.
Yodel, whose clients include Amazon and Marks and Spencer, has put on hold handling new parcels while it deals with a backlog from Black Friday.
Customers have taken to Twitter to vent their frustration
While the company stresses it is continuing to make deliveries, the temporary freeze on collecting further parcels for distribution will lead to delays of up to three days for goods to arrive.
Recent retail promotions such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have led to a surge in online orders for goods, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
1/18
Gallery: Black Friday: Madness In The Shops
Yes, really. Shoppers have wrestled over a television. It has come that, people. "Black Friday" is in full swing in Britain and the stiff upper lip Brits are famous for has well and truly left the building. This photo was taken at an Asda in Wembley, north London
Britain's high streets, shopping centres and websites have been awash with discounts as more retailers than ever embraced US-style promotions, seeking to kickstart trading in the key Christmas period
]]>
The police had to be called in at several supermarkets around the country overnight as thousands of customers hunted for bargains
]]>
The rush to grab a deal soon descended into chaos as fights broke out at stores and websites of leading chains buckled under the strain. Continue through for more pictures
]]>
Websites of leading retailers have been crippling under the weight of clicks
]]>
Yodel has apologised to customers, and said it expects to resume normal service by Monday.
But angry shoppers have been venting their frustration on Twitter over delivery delays.
Nick Fowler tweeted: "Hi, ordered over 2 weeks ago still nothing and Yodel tracking just says awaiting collection."
One exasperated post by James & Courtney said: "Never use Yodel. Been waiting a week and a half for a parcel on 24hr service."
Marke branded Yodel "the absolute worst", while Naomi Dolby said her experience over a delayed parcel had been "absolutely shocking".
She wrote: "I can't get hold of a real person at Yodel to track it down."
And in reply to one customer's delivery query the bookseller Waterstones tweeted: "Yodel are currently handling more parcels than they expected, so some deliveries are taking longer than we would like."
Yodel said retail promotions such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday had led to "unexpectedly high parcel volumes across the carrier industry".
In response there had been a "deferment" on some new parcels coming into its sorting centres.
It said in a statement: "By Monday we expect to resume our normal service. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our clients and their customers.
"We are working closely with our clients on their forecasted parcel volumes for the coming weeks, based on this we are confident that the action we are taking will ensure that normal service is resumed after the weekend."
In a Q&A for concerned customers on its website, Yodel said: "We spent months planning for Christmas, but even with our experience and those of our clients we underestimated how massive the spikes would be. (We were not alone!)
"The whole of the retail supply chain has felt the impact. Retailer websites have been crashing, there have been backlogs in distribution centres and all parcel delivery companies have felt the strain."
Posing the question of "Who came up with the idea of Black Friday?", the firm joked: "We don't know but if you find out please can you let us know as we would like a chat with them!"
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 Desember 2014 | 18.56
The owner of the Costa coffee chain has seen its total sales rise by 17% in the three months to 27 November.
Whitbread said in addition to total sales rising by almost a fifth, UK like-for-like revenue was up 5.2% in the quarter.
The company added that it now remains confident of delivering full-year results in line with expectations, with chief executive Andy Harrison describing it as "strong trading momentum".
The owner of the Premier Inns said it also saw good growth in the hotel chain division, with total sales up by 15.4% and like-for-like up 8.5% in the same period.
The chain has been conducting a heavy rotation advertising campaign for its hotels in recent months.
The revenue per available room metric was up 8.6% in the period and occupancy was up two percentage points, to almost 85%.
Costa has seen rapid growth in recent years, in part because of a backlash against key rival Starbucks, over the US multinational's tax arrangements.
Protests erupted at Starbucks outlets in 2012 after it was revealed that despite operating in Britain for more than a decade it rarely made a profit.
Costa has also expanded globally and now employs more than 10,000 in 29 countries, operating around 5,000 outlets of varying size.
The company continues to roast its beans in Lambeth, central London, in premises used for the last 40 years.
It has also expanded its self-service outlets rapidly across the UK and now has them fitted in more than 2,700 locations.
Whitbread said it still plans to open around 4,500 new Premier Inn rooms in the UK and some 230 net new Costa stores worldwide this financial year.
Online search engine Google has said that a new law is forcing it to close its news service in Spain.
Google News will close in the country on 16 December before the law, which allows Spanish publications to charge if their content is shown on the site, comes into effect in January.
The online giant has argued against the ruling saying it is unsustainable as it makes no money from the service and they don't put any advertising on the site.
In a blog post, the head of Google News, Richard Gingras said: "It's with real sadness that on 16 December (before the new law comes into effect in January) we'll remove Spanish publishers from Google News, and close Google News in Spain."
He added: "Publishers can choose whether or not they want their articles to appear in Google News -- and the vast majority choose to be included for very good reason.
Video:Google To Erase Search Results
"Google News creates real value for these publications by driving people to their websites, which in turn helps generate advertising revenues."
The Google News service is available in over 70 international editions in 35 languages and accounts for over 80% of the European search market.
In May, a European court ruling forced Google to delete some results from its search engine at the request of its users if the information was inadequate or no longer relevant.
The "right to be forgotten" has led to thousands of requests a month to remove results showing information including criminal records, embarrassing photos, instances of online bullying and negative press stories.
Written By Unknown on Rabu, 10 Desember 2014 | 18.56
The boss of the Financial Conduct Authority is to give up his annual bonus in the wake of a pension review story, Sky News has learned.
The decision by CEO Martin Wheatley comes as an internal investigation looks into the leaking of a news story to a national newspaper earlier this year.
Shock waves from the report saw billions wiped from the market value of the nation's leading pension providers.
The report, which had quotes directly attributed to another leading FCA official, hinted that up to 30 million pensions would need to be reviewed.
Last week Sky City Editor Mark Kleinman revealed that the quoted official, Clive Adamson, was preparing to step down as a result of the furore.
Mr Adamson is currently the director of supervision at the FCA.
Simon Davis, a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance, was appointed in April to lead an FCA inquiry into the leak - the report is published later today.
His report is expected to make a series of recommendations relating to the disclosure of market-sensitive information and internal communications at the FCA.
Meanwhile, Sky News understands that four senior executives at the FCA are set to be criticised by Mr Davis' report.
The news story in the Daily Telegraph last March sparked panicked selling by investors in London-listed insurers including Aviva and Friends Life, which have since agreed to merge, amid fears of a draconian regulatory clampdown.
However, the FCA failed to issue a clarifying statement about the terms of its review for more than six hours after trading in the shares had begun.
