Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Economic growth how to attain it

Link to the article Channel 4

As Chancellor George Osborne announces that growth will be lower than forecast, Channel 4 News asks economists how they would boost activity.

Small business big ideas waiting anxiously

Link to the article Channel 4

Memset is one of many British companies anxiously waiting to hear what help George Osborne will give to small businesses in his autumn statement, writes Business Correspondent Sarah Smith.

Growth down, borrowing up, autumn statement

Link to the article Channel 4

Britain's economic prospects take a hammering as Chancellor George Osborne's autumn statement reveals that growth will be lower than expected and borrowing far higher.

Monday, 28 November 2011

China and the World rebuild our infrastructure

Link to the article Channel 4

Britain’s economy has at best stalled. Its joblessness is sky-high. So tomorrow we’ll see perhaps a roadmap for reindustrialisation. Britain is badly in need of hundreds of billions of pounds of ports, roads, railways just to keep up with eastern high-growth economies. But the government says it doesn’t have the money.

Lucky then, that the man overseeing China‘s $410bn sovereign wealth fund, Jin Liqun has told me that: “We would be more than happy to step in and invest in the infrastructure development in the UK.

OECD predicts double dip recession for Britain

Link to the article Channel 4

With the OECD think tank predicting for the first time that Britain is about to slip back into recession, tomorrow's autumn statement will include a slew of policies to boost growth.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Clegg to announce £1bn youth job scheme

Link to the article Channel 4

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlines his flagship £1bn youth jobs programme. But will it work and is it any different to previous schemes? Channel 4 News FactCheck investigates.

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

James Murdoch resigns from uk newspaper boards

Link to the article Channel 4

James Murdoch resigns as director of the companies which publish the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times.

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Groupon good or bad for small businesses

Link to the article Channel 4



A baker from Reading reveals she lost £2.50 per order after a Groupon promotion went wrong, but a photographer tells Channel 4 News that group-buying sites can be good for business.

Executive pay corrosive to economy

Link to the article Channel 4

The salaries of Britain's executives are "corrosive" to the economy and "out of control", according to an independent report by the High Pay Commission.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Northern Rock sold to Virgin for £747m

Link to the article Channel 4

Northern Rock will be sold to Virgin Money for an initial £747m, at an estimated loss of over £400m to the taxpayer. But the government insists it was the best deal on the table.

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Bank's grim growth forecast too optimistic

Link to the article Channel 4

As the Bank of England lowers its forecasts, an economist tells Channel 4 News Britain is unlikely to grow at all next year.

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Made in Britain: The future of manufacturing

Link to the article Channel 4

Rolls-Royce is the poster boy for British manufacturing, but what is the future for the sector the government hopes can pull the UK out of recession? Business Correspondent Sarah Smith investigates.

Monday, 14 November 2011

Can manufacturing save the British economy..?

Link to the article Channel 4

The government says economic growth will come from rebalancing the British economy in favour of manufacturing. But what does Britain still make? Business Correspondent Sarah Smith investigates.

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Energy giant EDF hit by spying fine

Energy giant EDF hit by spying fine

Energy company EDF is fined 1.5 million euros by a French court after being found guilty of spying on environmental group Greenpeace, as Science Correspondent Tom Clarke reports.

Land Rover to create 1000 new jobs

Link to the article Channel 4

Car giant Jaguar Land Rover is creating 1,000 new jobs in the west Midlands to support a boost in production over the next five years.

The plant in Solihull, west Midlands, is expecting thousands of applications from skilled tradesmen and women and production staff.

Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Indian firm, Tata, employs nearly 20,000 people in the UK, including 5,000 in Solihull, and has announced a series of recruitment drives this year. In September it revealed that a new factory in Wolverhampton will create up to 750 jobs.

The job creation will give a much needed boost to the UK economy and the news was welcomed by the government, unions and business leaders who said it showed global investors' commitment to the UK.

These 1,000 jobs are being created to support the delivery of 40 "significant product actions" over the next five years, as part of a multi-billion pound investment in new products, which is likely to include a new Range Rover model.

Interest rates stay on hold despite fears of UK slump

Link to article Channel 4 News

The Bank of England resists further emergency action despite fears that the economy will go into reverse by the end of the year.



The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has again kept interest rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent, maintaining its quantitative easing programme at £275bn after October's shock increase.

The MPC pumped an extra £75bn into the economy last month amid signs that the recovery was heading towards a fresh crisis.

Economists do not now expect further action until early next year.

The bank unanimously voted for the QE boost amid fears that growth in the UK will grind to a halt by the end of the year, while governor Sir Mervyn King warned that the UK could be facing "the most serious financial crisis" it has ever seen.

Friday, 4 November 2011

BA owner buys BMI

Link to the article

The owner of British Airways is buying BMI from Lufthansa - giving it control of more than half of Heathrow's take-off slots.



The decision to make the acquisition by International Airlines Group (IAG) - which also owns Iberia - has angered rival Virgin Atlantic.

The sale will increase BA's hold on the take-off and landing slots at Heathrow airport, Britain's busiest. Assuming the deal goes through, IAG will end up in control of more than half of the slots.