New Rules To Boost Home-Based Businesses

Entrepreneurs will have more freedom to begin a business from home under new measures to be announced by the Government.

They include legislation which will make it simpler to run a company from a rented property and new guidance on business rates.

There will also be updates to planning guidance to make it clear that planning permission will not normally be required to run a home-based business.

Business minister Matthew Hancock said: "It's this spirit of personal endeavour and self-determination that is driving our economic recovery.

"But home businesses don't just fire up the economic engines and create jobs, they turn dormitory towns into living communities, they keep our streets safer, and by driving down car emissions, cleaner too.

"We'll give people the confidence they need to run a business from a rented home, making sure that the majority of home businesses are exempt from business rates and our aspiring entrepreneurs have the information they need to start up and grow."

Under the measures a new model tenancy agreement will be made available to landlords.

The law will also be changed so landlords can be confident that agreeing to a business within their property will not undermine their tenancy agreement.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said it firmly supported the removal of "unnecessary barriers" to setting up at home.

"At least some of the kitchen table businesses of today will expand and become the commercial property space-seekers of tomorrow," she said.

"We therefore have an interest in ensuring that the law and our sector is adapting to modern business practice and supporting UK entrepreneurs at every stage of their business development."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rents Rise Again As Home Costs Swallow Income

Rental bills are rising above the rate of inflation again after a break of more than a year- as a separate study warns over the impact on families of higher housing costs.

According to LSL Property Services, which runs the Reeds Rains and Your Move chains, the average monthly rent across England and Wales increased by 2% in the 12 months to July as the market picked up with students starting to book accommodation.

That took the pace higher than the 1.9% rate of inflation for the first time since June last year - with the average rent now standing at £753 per calendar month.

London and the South East regions led the way in terms of the highest values - with a £1,143 average in the capital - though London's rate of increase stood at 2.3% over the 12-month period, compared to 3% in the North West.

The North East was the only region where rents had fallen over the period, LSL said, with a 3.8% reduction to reach £507 typically.

Its report was released as another study warned that almost 1.6 million UK households were now seeing more than half their disposable income being taken up with rent or mortgage costs.

The Resolution Foundation think-tank, which carried out the research, said "pinched" households were more likely to rent privately, be young, live alone, live in one bedroom properties, have recently moved and live in London.

Its analyst, Laura Gardiner, said: "The majority of the housing-pinched are in work but on low and middle incomes, leaving little left over after housing costs to spend on other essentials.

"With house prices and rents rising in some parts of the country, interest rates expected to start to go up and income growth remaining weak, we should be concerned about the ability of this group to absorb additional pressure on their household budgets from higher mortgage payments and rents.

"It is vital that more money is invested in the supply of new housing in order to drive down costs, otherwise we can expect to see a steady rise in the number of households that are 'housing pinched' over the coming years."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK Growth Hits Fastest Annual Pace Since 2007

The annual rate of UK economic growth has been revised upwards to 3.2% - its fastest pace since the end of 2007.

The announcement was made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as it confirmed GDP growth of 0.8% in the second quarter of the year.

While that figure represented no change on its original estimate, the ONS said it had measured a stronger performance in the construction sector than previously calculated in its wider revisions.

It confirmed that the service sector - which makes up more than 75% of GDP - remained the main driver of Britain's economy between April and June, expanding by 1%.

Much of this has been attributed to consumer spending despite huge pressure on budgets because of weak wage growth - a situation that had been tipped to ease during 2014 but has worsened again in recent months.

The ONS confirmed on Wednesday that wages shrank at an annual rate of 0.2% in the second quarter while the main measure of inflation rose to 1.9%, meaning the gap between wages and price rises was widening further.

The Bank of England has now made the weak pay issue a core factor in its discussions over the timing of an interest rate rise.

The UK's resilient GDP growth is in sharp contrast to economic fortunes in the euro area.

It was confirmed on Thursday that Germany's GDP was in decline and French growth was stagnating.

Chief UK economist at Citigroup, Michael Saunders, told Sky News he was not overly concerned that the woes being experienced by the country's biggest trading partners would damage the UK's recovery.

He said the suro had been "in economic terms, something of a zombie for a number of years now" and backed calls from France for the European Central Bank (ECB) to provide stimulus.

"The ECB will eventually get around to QE (quantitative easing) - five years too late - I think they're going to do it in the next couple of quarters and that will give some boost but it really is a sad story of multiple policy failures in the euro area," he said.

"Even if it gets a bit better I don't think it will get a lot better in the euro area."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Rules To Boost Home-Based Businesses

Entrepreneurs will have more freedom to begin a business from home under new measures to be announced by the Government.

They include legislation which will make it simpler to run a company from a rented property and new guidance on business rates.

There will also be updates to planning guidance to make it clear that planning permission will not normally be required to run a home-based business.

Business minister Matthew Hancock said: "It's this spirit of personal endeavour and self-determination that is driving our economic recovery.

"But home businesses don't just fire up the economic engines and create jobs, they turn dormitory towns into living communities, they keep our streets safer, and by driving down car emissions, cleaner too.

"We'll give people the confidence they need to run a business from a rented home, making sure that the majority of home businesses are exempt from business rates and our aspiring entrepreneurs have the information they need to start up and grow."

Under the measures a new model tenancy agreement will be made available to landlords.

The law will also be changed so landlords can be confident that agreeing to a business within their property will not undermine their tenancy agreement.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said it firmly supported the removal of "unnecessary barriers" to setting up at home.

"At least some of the kitchen table businesses of today will expand and become the commercial property space-seekers of tomorrow," she said.

"We therefore have an interest in ensuring that the law and our sector is adapting to modern business practice and supporting UK entrepreneurs at every stage of their business development."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rents Rise Again As Home Costs Swallow Income

Rental bills are rising by more than inflation again after a break of more than a year as a separate study warns over the impact on families of higher housing costs.

According to LSL Property Services, which runs the Reeds Rains and Your Move chains, the average monthly rent across England and Wales increased by 2% in the 12 months to July as the market picked up with students starting to book accommodation.

That took the pace higher than the 1.9% rate of inflation for the first time since June last year - with the average rent now standing at £753 per calendar month.

London and the South East regions led the way in terms of the highest values - with a £1,143 average in the capital - though London's rate of increase stood at 2.3% over the 12 month period compared to 3% in the North West.

The North East was the only region where rents had fallen over the period, LSL said, with a 3.8% reduction to reach £507 typically.

Its report was released as another study warned that almost 1.6 million UK households were now seeing more than half their disposable income being taken up with rent or mortgage costs.

The Resolution Foundation think-tank, which carried out the research, said 'pinched' households were more likely to rent privately, be young, live alone, live in one bedroom properties, have recently moved and live in London.

Its analyst, Laura Gardiner, said: "The majority of the housing pinched are in work but on low and middle incomes, leaving little left over after housing costs to spend on other essentials.

"With house prices and rents rising in some parts of the country, interest rates expected to start to go up and income growth remaining weak, we should be concerned about the ability of this group to absorb additional pressure on their household budgets from higher mortgage payments and rents.

"It is vital that more money is invested in the supply of new housing in order to drive down costs, otherwise we can expect to see a steady rise in the number of households that are 'housing pinched' over the coming years."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK Growth Hits Fastest Annual Pace Since 2007

The annual rate of UK economic growth has been revised upwards to 3.2% - its fastest pace since the end of 2007.

The announcement was made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as it confirmed GDP growth of 0.8% in the second quarter of the year.

While that figure represented no change on its original estimate, the ONS said it had measured a stronger performance in the construction sector than previously calculated in its wider revisions.

It confirmed that the service sector - which makes up more than 75% of GDP - remained the main driver of Britain's economy between April and June, expanding by 1%.

Much of this has been attributed to consumer spending despite huge pressure on budgets because of weak wage growth - a situation that had been tipped to ease during 2014 but has worsened again in recent months.

The ONS confirmed on Wednesday that wages shrank at an annual rate of 0.2% in the second quarter while the main measure of inflation rose to 1.9% meaning the gap between wages and price rises was widening further.

The Bank of England has now made the weak pay issue a core factor in its discussions on the timing for an interest rate rise.

More follows...

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

France: GDP Growth 'Breaks Down In Europe'

Germany's economy contracted in the second quarter of 2014, while France has warned that growth "has broken down" in the country and wider eurozone.

Official figures show that Europe's biggest economy recorded a surprise 0.2% GDP dip between April and June as foreign trade and investment, particularly in the construction sector, weighed on growth.

Investor and business confidence was since taken a knock because of the crisis in Ukraine - straining relations with Russia - raising fears of an even weaker recovery.

Those jitters were reflected in financial markets on opening - with the German DAX and the CAC 40 in Paris both losing ground amid a wider sell-off across Europe.

Together, France and Germany account for about 65% of eurozone output.

France called on the European Central Bank to do more to tackle the risk of deflation and bring the euro to a more competitive level as it posted zero GDP growth for the second consecutive quarter.

The figures also prompted the finance minister Michel Sapin to slash his government's forecast for growth in 2014 to "around 0.5%" compared with a previous projection of 1%.

He told the daily Le Monde newspaper: "Growth has broken down, in Europe and in France.

"With zero growth in the second quarter, thereby extending the stagnation we saw in the first, our country is slowing down and will not achieve the 1% growth observers were predicting three months ago".

Analysts have warned for months that France, the second biggest economy in the eurozone, looks increasingly the weak link in a halting recovery as the government battles to push through much-needed reforms.

Unemployment hit a new record in June to a shade under 3.4 million while the forecast for France's public deficit is now predicted to be above 4% of GDP this year - missing key targets demanded of it by the EU.

The country's statistics agency blamed falling manufacturing output as a key component of its performance and cited a large number of midweek public holidays as having a particular impact on productivity.

The performance of economies using the single currency contrasts sharply with the UK's economic recovery which continues to gather steam despite worries over falling wage packets.

Employment has reached record levels while GDP grew by 0.8% in both the first and second quarters of the year.

On Wednesday, the Bank of England raised the prospect of a delay to an expected rise in the base rate of interest over fears that increased borrowing costs and a time of stagnant wage growth would choke off the recovery.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lenovo Hails Mobile Future As Sales Soar

A 32% jump in sales of mobile devices has helped the world's biggest maker of PCs grow its quarterly profits.

Lenovo, which has intensified efforts to diversify from its traditional personal computer roots, confirmed that earnings rose 23% to $214m (£128m) in the April-June quarter compared to the same period last year.

It credited strong growth in sales of smartphones and other mobile devices, which topped $1.6bn (£1bn) over the three months.

The profits reflect the China-based firm's heavy investment in mobile technology - a strategy that has included the purchase, from Google, of Motorola's handset business for $2.9bn (£1.74bn).

Global revenue rose 18% to $10.4bn (£6.23bn) - with PC sales making up 29% of that total figure.

The company said shipments of desktop computers rose 12.1% over a year earlier, compared with an industry average of 2.4% - reflecting a pick-up in demand in its home market.

Just over a third of its revenue was made in China while the US and the Americas accounted for $2.2bn (£1.32bn) of sales.

Revenues from Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose 27% to $2.8bn (£1.68bn).

Lenovo's chairman, Yang Yuanqing, said he expected mobile sales to be the bulk of its future revenue as its focus shifts from PCs.

The company said it rose to number three among global tablet computer suppliers, adding that worldwide smartphone shipments grew about 39% year-on-year.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple Shareholder Suing Steve Jobs' Estate

The estate of Apple founder Steve Jobs is being sued by one of the company's shareholders.

The class-action lawsuit claims the Cupertino company misled investors and damaged the value of the company by striking a controversial hiring agreement with other corporations.

According to court papers filed this week, Apple violated the US Securities and Exchange Act by cutting deals with Google and other firms not to actively recruit employees away from each other.

The case was filed by shareholder R. Andre Klein on behalf of all Apple shareholders.

In the papers, he criticised Jobs' "zealous pursuit of profits".

"Jobs's conduct is a reminder that even widely respected businessmen can knowingly commit unlawful acts in the zealous pursuit of profits.

"In this case, Jobs and the other individual defendants knowingly caused Apple to enter into agreements that violated California law and US antitrust laws."

Other people named as defendants include current chief executive Tim Cook, who took over as chief executive following Jobs' death in 2011.

Earlier this year, Apple agreed to settle a class-action  lawsuit brought by workers for $325m (£195m) over the alleged hiring agreement, but this week a judge rejected the settlement saying it fell short of "reasonableness".

US district judge Lucy Koh said there was "ample evidence of an overarching conspiracy" among the companies, which also include Intel and Adobe.

Klein is demanding an unspecified payment from the company for damages to shareholders as a result of the case.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Car Insurance Premium Falls 'Hit The Brakes'

One of the UK's biggest car insurance firms has warned that the recent fall in premium costs may be ending, despite regulatory efforts to bring bills down further.

In its half year results statement on Wednesday, Admiral's chief executive signalled that the decline of recent years across the industry could soon be halted.

Henry Engelhardt said: "In the UK there are some signs that premiums are no longer falling but we have yet to see firm evidence of an inflection point and a return to premium growth.

"Admiral's premium rates have been pretty flat over the first half of the year, though as a result of the reductions in 2013, total premiums are down around 9% compared with the first half of 2013."

Car insurance costs have fallen since late 2012 amid industry and Government efforts to combat fraud - particularly over whiplash claims.

The AA charted a 16.6% decline in average Comprehensive cover costs in 2013 to £531 while the figure for third party, fire and theft stood at £725 - down more than 18%.

The competition regulator announced in June a series of measures to help bring down the costs of insuring a car further.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed imposing a cap on replacement vehicle costs passed on to an at-fault driver following an accident - estimated to currently total up to £180m annually.

It also wanted to ban price parity agreements between price comparison websites and insurers, which stop insurers from making their products available to consumers elsewhere more cheaply.

Admiral credited a 9% increase in customer numbers for a modest 1% increase in group profit before tax to £183.3m during the first six months of the year.

It reported UK car insurance profit before tax at £207.7m - a rise of 8% on the same period last year - but said expectations for its UK business remain unchanged for 2014 as a whole.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan's GDP Shrinks 6.8% As Sales Tax Bites

Efforts to shore up Japan's public finances have had a negative impact on its economy, with GDP shrinking 1.7% in the second quarter alone.

A sales tax increase from 5% to 8%, which came into force in April, was blamed for the contraction in output during the period which came in at at annualised rate of 6.8%.

The decline in GDP was the worst since the economic tailspin that followed the March 2011 quake disaster and tsunami in north-eastern Japan but it was largely expected as consumers and businesses had front-loaded spending in the first quarter to beat the tax rise.

The government took a relaxed view of the performance, with economics minister Akira Amari saying: "Looking at monthly data during April-June, sales of electronics goods and those at department stores are picking up after falling sharply in April.

Shinzo Abe has helped weaken the yen

"The job market is also improving steadily. Taking these into account, Japan's economy continues to recover moderately as a trend and the effect of the sales tax hike is subsiding."

Economists also expect the effects of the tax increase to be temporary, with spending picking up in coming months.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 'Abenomics' strategy has been aimed at pulling the world's third-biggest economy out of two decades of stagnation by expanding money supply, freeing up regulations and encouraging the yen to fall.

But it has also been concerned about ballooning public debt and acted through the sales tax increase despite a reluctance among previous administrations over fears such a move would spark recession.

Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, said the GDP slowdown reflected not only the tax hike but also lower incomes and price increases from other sources.

"The impact from the tax is going to be short-term but the economy is ailing and that's not good."

Dramatic wage increases are not likely in Japan, and the recent trend of rising prices is part of Abe's strategy to reverse Japan's debilitating spiral of deflation, or falling prices.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wages Fall For First Time In Five Years

British workers earned less between April and June than they did in the same period last year, deepening the cost of living squeeze.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) charted average weekly earnings, including bonuses, fell by a yearly 0.2% over the three months.

That's the first time wage growth has been negative since the recession of 2009.

When the effects of bonus payments were stripped out, pay rises remained weak and well below the rate of inflation showing growth at an annual rate of just 0.6% between April and June - the lowest growth in regular pay since records began in 2001.

Commenting on the negative earnings figure, the ONS said it continued to reflect a cut in income tax in April 2013 which prompted many firms to delay bonus payments.

Between April and June, there were 30.60m people in work, 167,000 more than for January to March and 820,000 more than a year earlier.

There were 2.08m unemployed people, 132,000 fewer than for January to March 2014 and 437,000 fewer than a year earlier.

The Bank of England has cited weak wage growth as a reason for keeping interest rates at the historic low of 0.5%.

More follows...

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia Airlines Launches 'Complete Overhaul'

Malaysian officials have released a share buy-back plan to take Malaysia Airlines off the stock market, as part of a "complete overhaul" of the embattled carrier.

State investment firm Khazanah Nasional, which owns 69% of the airline, wants to purchase the majority shareholding from investors ahead of a delisting.

The move comes as the company continues to reel from the dual effect of losing two aircraft this year - the disappearance of MH370 and the crash of MH17 in eastern Ukraine.

The airline struggled with profitability for several years ahead of this year's disasters.

Khazanah Nasional has proposed buying the outstanding stock at 27 sen (£0.0475) a share, 29% higher than the three-month average.

The complete takeover would cost 1.38bn ringgit (£255m). Shares were suspended in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the announcement.

"The proposed restructuring will critically require all parties to work closely together to undertake what will be a complete overhaul of the national carrier," Khazanah said in a statement.

"Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity."

Before this year's disasters, the carrier's financial performance was among the worst in the industry, putting a question mark over its future.

Some industry experts recently voiced concern of its ability to survive without a major cash injection from the Malaysian government.

Branding specialists have said Malaysia Airlines must take dramatic steps such as replacing its senior management and a name change.

As a state-owned flag carrier, the airline must fly unprofitable domestic routes.

Its workforce has a strong union presence that has resisted operational changes, amid the rise of low-cost regional rivals.

Khazanah said the plan required approvals from regulators and Malaysia's finance minister.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Mail To Change Post Box Collection Time

The collection time at almost 50,000 Royal Mail post boxes will be brought forward to earlier in the day under new plans.

Staff delivering letters are expected to make the pick-ups as part of their rounds.

Some 47,500 post boxes will see collection times as early as 9am, instead of the usual 5pm.

Royal Mail, which was privatised last year, said it will also add around 2,000 new boxes in under-serviced areas such as rural Scotland and Northern Ireland.

New boxes would also be fitted in areas of high pedestrian traffic, including train stations and shopping precincts.

It currently has some 115,000 post boxes around the nation.

The company said where new collection times are imposed, generally between 9am and 3pm, there will still be a late posting box within half a mile.

About 12,000 rural post boxes are already emptied during delivery rounds but the new plan would primarily affect urban and suburban locations.

The new system is designed to improve efficiency, amid a decade-long decline in stamped mail use.

The company said: "Rather than decommission uneconomic post boxes, while staying within the regulated density requirement, Royal Mail will ensure their viability by improving the efficiency of its collections arrangements."

It said consultations have been undertaken with consumer groups and regulator Ofcom has been informed.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: "Ofcom recognises the need for Royal Mail to become more efficient so it can sustain a universal postal service that consumers value highly.

"While the changes won't affect the majority of postal users, Ofcom expects Royal Mail to communicate clearly with any affected consumers and ensure that their reasonable needs continue to be met."

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canadian Teachers Swoop On Debt Group Lowell

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A giant Canadian pension fund has swooped to buy a big stake in Lowell Group, one of Britain's biggest consumer debt collection agencies.

Sky News understands that Teachers Private Capital (TPC), an investment arm of one of Ontario's municipal retirement schemes, signed a deal on Friday to acquire just over 35% of Lowell's shares.

The deal values the debt collection group at around $1.6bn, and returns a large chunk of cash to TDR Capital, the private equity firm which has owned Lowell since 2011.

An announcement is expected on Monday as a consequence of Lowell's publicly-traded debt securities.

Lowell specialises in debt recovery and other credit management services, a sector which has attracted frequent attention from private equity funds.

The company, which pledges to take "a fair, sensitive and ethical approach to debt recovery", competes with rivals such as Cabot Credit Management and Arrow Global, which floated on the stock exchange last October.

The Financial Conduct Authority assumed responsibility for regulating consumer credit providers earlier this year.

TPC, which is also a significant investor in TDR's funds,  is understood to have been attracted to Lowell's growth prospects and its compliance record with UK financial regulators.

The deal adds Lowell to a portfolio of UK investments made by Ontario's vast teachers' pension fund, which include Camelot, the National Lottery operator; Burton's Biscuits, the owner of Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels; and Busy Bees, the nurseries group.

TPC's investment comes ahead of a potential stock market flotation of Lowell, which could take place as soon as next year.

TDR and TPC declined to comment.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More