Transport exec calls for regional plan

Monday 22 October 2012 6:00

Virgin Money in RBS deal running

Monday 15 October 2012 10:00

Virgin Money has reportedly emerged as a frontrunner in the race for a potential cut-price deal for 316 branches of RBS after Santander pulled out of a deal on Friday. Accoding to reports, the bank is likely to accept a price well below the £1.65bn agreed with Santander.

RBS shares slump

Monday 15 October 2012 9:00

RBS shares fell this morning as analysts warned that the bailed out bank will have to accept a lower price for the 316 branches it had planned to sell to Santander before the deal collapsed last week. Shares fell 3% in early trading although they later recovered to 269p, down around 1%.

Trinity Mirror merger

Monday 15 October 2012 7:00

Trinity Mirror chief Simon Fox is reportedly planning to merge the publisher's national and regional newspaper operations, restructure its management and close its GroupOn-style daily deals service. The former HMV chief executive, who took the reins at Trinity Mirror last month, said that two newspaper divisions faced the same issues and needed to be merged as part of a strategy dubbed "One Trinity Mirror".

Defence deal off

Thursday 11 October 2012 8:00

Plans to create a European aerospace and defence giant have reportedly collapsed after German opposition scuppered the £28bn deal. The proposed merger of BAE Systems and EADS would have created a company with combined sales of £60bn and more than 220,000 staff, but the two companies have now been forced to ditch the bid, prompting fears over job security at BAE, which operates from 50 UK locations.

Toyota recall

Thursday 11 October 2012 7:00

Toyota is recalling 7.4m vehicles globally after discovering faulty window switches in 12 models. In the UK, 138,000 cars are affected.

Scottish economy weakens

Thursday 11 October 2012 7:00

Activity in the Scottish economy weakened more than expected over the summer as business conditions deteriorated, according to a survey by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC). The study said firms had also lowered expectations for the next nine months.

Barclays acquires new business

Tuesday 9 October 2012 9:00

Barclays has increased its customer base by 1.5 million with the acquisition of the UK savings and loan business of Dutch bank ING.

No IMF-fuelled change, says PM

Tuesday 9 October 2012 9:00

Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly said he will not soften his austerity programme with a "Plan B" of slower spending cuts after the International Monetary Fund downgraded its growth forecasts for Britain. The IMF cut its UK economic growth estimates on Monday, predicting the economy would shrink 0.4 percent this year before growing by 1.1 percent in 2013.

Housing market lift

Tuesday 9 October 2012 9:00

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' latest house price survey has found that expectations among surveyors for future housing sales reached their highest level in September for more than two years. A net balance of 26pc more respondents predicted sales to grow in the last quarter of the year.

Workers axed at drinks firm

Tuesday 9 October 2012 8:00

Around 685 workers at a collapsed drinks supplier have been made redundant after administrators were unable to find a buyer for the business. Waverley TBS fell into administration last week. The company has main offices in Hemel Hempstead, Chesterfield and Felling, near Gateshead, and was sold a little more than two years ago by brewer Heineken.

Manufacturers call for new measures

Monday 8 October 2012 9:00

A new survey published today from manufacturing body EEF has called for more support from the Chancellor to help kickstart the recovery. Almost 80% of around 350 companies that were surveyed said they wanted to see new measures to promote growth, while just over 25% saw the reduction of the UK’s structural deficit as the main priority.