Six in every 10 UK companies plan to freeze pay or negotiate cuts, according to a new employment survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and recruitment group Harvey Nash.
The same proportion of businesses have frozen recruitment across all or part of their operations, the comprehensive poll published today indicates.
John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, said the research revealed that the recession had dramatically altered the workplace landscape. More than 700 companies, employing about 3m people, took part in the survey.
It had been a "particularly bruising recession, but one of its most positive and striking aspects has been the commitment of many businesses and their staff to work together to try to trim costs and save jobs," Mr Cridland said. Among other key findings, in cases where jobs could not be saved, the cost of individual redundancy payments averaged £12,100.
More than half the businesses surveyed expect recruitment levels to take more than a year to return to 2007 levels, and about half of those said it would take more than two years.
Almost 40pc have put a freeze on graduate recruitment and a further 10pc said they were recruiting fewer graduates, compared to just 5pc recruiting more.
Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash, warned that the UK economy was in danger of losing its competitive edge if British companies failed to take a more "proactive approach to training, accommodating and retaining talent".
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
CML say the rate of repossessions is easing
Fewer homeowners are expected to face repossession this year than had been feared because there is less pressure on people struggling with mortgage repayments, according to a forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The CML said that it had revised down its original expectation that 75,000 houses would be repossessed in 2009 to 65,000 to take into account lower interest rates, government intervention and lenders’ forbearance.
The industry body also reduced its estimate for the number of homeowners who would be in arrears of three months or more by the end of the year from 500,000 to 425,000. It added that unemployment would mean that the number of borrowers struggling to meet repayments would continue to increase from last year’s levels, albeit at a slower pace.
The renewed optimism from lenders came as the Department for Communities & Local Government said on Monday that it would double to £1.5 million the funding for free legal advice to those facing repossession.
Other housing data released on Monday gave a mixed view of the market’s fortunes. Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) showed a 62 per cent increase in repossessions, from 9,174 in the first quarter of 2008 to 14,825 in same period this year, and a 33 per cent rise in arrears, from 299,588 to 398,991.
In an apparent contradiction of the CML’s view that lenders are being more helpful to struggling customers, the FSA said it had found a number of sub-prime lenders and third-party administrators guilty of poor practice in the handling of arrears and repossessions cases.
The watchdog said that it would take legal action against four groups and was assessing others for being too quick to take court action, unfairly imposing fees and not taking borrowers’ circumstances into account. Meanwhile Shelter, the housing charity, said that a second wave of repossessions could hit the UK in the next two years as unemployment rose, interest rates began to climb again and mortgage support schemes came to an end.
Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) made further grim reading for landlords, but will prove gratifying for tenants. RICS reported that the number of surveyors reporting a fall rather than an increase in rents rose from 48 per cent to 55 per cent, the highest proportion since it began the survey in 1999. Landlords’ gross property yields were falling for the first time since April 2007, indicating that rents were declining at a faster pace than house prices.
The CML said that it had revised down its original expectation that 75,000 houses would be repossessed in 2009 to 65,000 to take into account lower interest rates, government intervention and lenders’ forbearance.
The industry body also reduced its estimate for the number of homeowners who would be in arrears of three months or more by the end of the year from 500,000 to 425,000. It added that unemployment would mean that the number of borrowers struggling to meet repayments would continue to increase from last year’s levels, albeit at a slower pace.
The renewed optimism from lenders came as the Department for Communities & Local Government said on Monday that it would double to £1.5 million the funding for free legal advice to those facing repossession.
Other housing data released on Monday gave a mixed view of the market’s fortunes. Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) showed a 62 per cent increase in repossessions, from 9,174 in the first quarter of 2008 to 14,825 in same period this year, and a 33 per cent rise in arrears, from 299,588 to 398,991.
In an apparent contradiction of the CML’s view that lenders are being more helpful to struggling customers, the FSA said it had found a number of sub-prime lenders and third-party administrators guilty of poor practice in the handling of arrears and repossessions cases.
The watchdog said that it would take legal action against four groups and was assessing others for being too quick to take court action, unfairly imposing fees and not taking borrowers’ circumstances into account. Meanwhile Shelter, the housing charity, said that a second wave of repossessions could hit the UK in the next two years as unemployment rose, interest rates began to climb again and mortgage support schemes came to an end.
Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) made further grim reading for landlords, but will prove gratifying for tenants. RICS reported that the number of surveyors reporting a fall rather than an increase in rents rose from 48 per cent to 55 per cent, the highest proportion since it began the survey in 1999. Landlords’ gross property yields were falling for the first time since April 2007, indicating that rents were declining at a faster pace than house prices.
Thomson Reuters to pull out of London listing
Thomson Reuters is to quit the London stockmarket, 144 years after its shares were first traded in the City.
The media conglomerate announced last night it would drop its London listing, having lost patience with its shares being valued less in the UK than across the Atlantic.
Once the plan is approved by shareholders, Thomson Reuters will be listed in Toronto and New York, and will also drop its Nasdaq listing. The company's current complex listing position is a result of the takeover of Reuters Group by Thomson Financial in 2008.
The Thomson Reuters chief executive, Tom Glocer, said the dual-listing structure was meant to help Reuters shareholders to continue investing in the company, but he revealed that UK shareholders now only make up 5% of the total. This is partly because the value of a Thomson Reuters share traded in London has been consistently less than one traded in New York.
Last summer, the discount between the two hit 20% – Glocer claimed American investors had a better understanding of his company than those in the City of London.
Losing the London listing will cut the company's costs. Its shares rose by more than 5% this morning to £17.19.
Reuters was founded by Paul Julius Reuter who started sending news between European cities, famously using carrier pigeons in the early days. In 1851, he set up an office in two rooms at 1 Royal Exchange Buildings in London's financial centre and used one of the first telegraph cables between England and France to transmit stock market prices between London and Paris.
Reuter's Telegram Company, as it was then known, was registered as a public limited company in 1865. It was taken private again in 1916, before floating on the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq in 1984.
The media conglomerate announced last night it would drop its London listing, having lost patience with its shares being valued less in the UK than across the Atlantic.
Once the plan is approved by shareholders, Thomson Reuters will be listed in Toronto and New York, and will also drop its Nasdaq listing. The company's current complex listing position is a result of the takeover of Reuters Group by Thomson Financial in 2008.
The Thomson Reuters chief executive, Tom Glocer, said the dual-listing structure was meant to help Reuters shareholders to continue investing in the company, but he revealed that UK shareholders now only make up 5% of the total. This is partly because the value of a Thomson Reuters share traded in London has been consistently less than one traded in New York.
Last summer, the discount between the two hit 20% – Glocer claimed American investors had a better understanding of his company than those in the City of London.
Losing the London listing will cut the company's costs. Its shares rose by more than 5% this morning to £17.19.
Reuters was founded by Paul Julius Reuter who started sending news between European cities, famously using carrier pigeons in the early days. In 1851, he set up an office in two rooms at 1 Royal Exchange Buildings in London's financial centre and used one of the first telegraph cables between England and France to transmit stock market prices between London and Paris.
Reuter's Telegram Company, as it was then known, was registered as a public limited company in 1865. It was taken private again in 1916, before floating on the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq in 1984.
Monday, 22 June 2009
Homeowners are dropping asking prices
Home owners trying to sell their houses are knocking more than £1,000 off the asking price as a lack of affordable mortgages and rising rates continues to plague the housing market, a report suggests.
Asking prices were dropped by an average of 0.4 per cent in June to £226,436 as sellers were forced to cut their prices amid the housing slump.
The monthly Rightmove house price report blamed lenders for boosting their profits by raising their mortgage rates.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "It's a mistake to confuse the upturn in enquiries and sales with a return to a more normal market. While conditions are much improved on the darkest days of last year, we are now starting to see some big distortions and wild swings due to the combined effects of recession and restricted mortgage availability.
"The best deals on property and mortgages are only open to the equity-rich," he said. "Perennially popular areas with good schooling are in, while flats in large blocks and terraces requiring major works are out, meaning new sellers are having to adjust prices accordingly."
The biggest change was in East Anglia, where asking prices were reduced by 6.6 per cent in June to £162,318, according to Rightmove.
But asking prices rose by 4.5 per cent in the North West, pushing average values to £170,562.
Mr Shipside added: "Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages are now increasing, in line with money-market expectations of higher medium-term interest rates. Property deals appear within the grasp of cash strapped first-time buyers, but every rise in fixed rates frustratingly nudges them a bit further out of reach.
"Lenders need to be wary not to choke off the recovery in affordability and activity by punishing the returning buyers with ever widening margins."
Asking prices were dropped by an average of 0.4 per cent in June to £226,436 as sellers were forced to cut their prices amid the housing slump.
The monthly Rightmove house price report blamed lenders for boosting their profits by raising their mortgage rates.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "It's a mistake to confuse the upturn in enquiries and sales with a return to a more normal market. While conditions are much improved on the darkest days of last year, we are now starting to see some big distortions and wild swings due to the combined effects of recession and restricted mortgage availability.
"The best deals on property and mortgages are only open to the equity-rich," he said. "Perennially popular areas with good schooling are in, while flats in large blocks and terraces requiring major works are out, meaning new sellers are having to adjust prices accordingly."
The biggest change was in East Anglia, where asking prices were reduced by 6.6 per cent in June to £162,318, according to Rightmove.
But asking prices rose by 4.5 per cent in the North West, pushing average values to £170,562.
Mr Shipside added: "Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages are now increasing, in line with money-market expectations of higher medium-term interest rates. Property deals appear within the grasp of cash strapped first-time buyers, but every rise in fixed rates frustratingly nudges them a bit further out of reach.
"Lenders need to be wary not to choke off the recovery in affordability and activity by punishing the returning buyers with ever widening margins."
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