Business

With over 900 franchise brands and 44,000 operations, it's fair to say the UK high street is buzzing with franchise activity. Often unbeknown to the public. Most of us recognise McDonald’s as a global franchise, but Dominos, Costa and many more sing from the same hymn sheet. In the past ten years the franchise sector's contribution to the economy has grown by 46 per cent, bringing in £15.1 billion last year. For Brits who want more independence over their career it is...

The price of petrol is likely to drop further in 2016 following the Iran nuclear deal that freed the country of sanctions. The International Energy Agency has predicted that “unless something changes, the oil market could drown in over-supply” in 2016. Over supply of crude has already resulted in prices dropping to around the $28 a barrel mark, but it could fall further. The IEA expect that higher production from Iran will lead to the market being drowned in oil, with production set to...

When thinking about European versions of Silicon Valley, three cities come to mind — London, Berlin and Amsterdam. All three are unique and ready to rival each other to be the most fruitful in promoting new business and the most successful in acquiring funding. Recently, however, the amount of venture capital funding that has been invested in London has surprised even the most optimistic of expectations, leaving everyone wondering if the Tech City is turning into a Tech Empire. As...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Richard Branson's business empire is about to grow again as his Virgin Care organisation is about to take over Sheppey and Sittingbourne community hospitals as part of a £126 million deal. The Virgin group will oversee the running of four new hospitals - Sittingbourne Memorial, Sheppey Community Hospital, Livingstone Hospital in Dartford and Gravesham Hospital in Gravesend.The community hospitals, community nursing, intermediate care, community neuro rehabilitation, speech and language therapy, podiatry and continence services will...

Yorkshire powerhouse Leeds has been revealed as the best city for a payrise in 2016 according to new data. CV-Library stats show salaries grew by 4.7 per cent in Leeds last year, with its county neighbour Sheffield close by with growth of 4.2 per cent. London saw a 2.5 per cent growth in advertised salaries in 2015 compared with 2014, coming in fourth on the list of top ten salary growers. Proving to be among the best off in the...

A new year, a new record-high price for wholesalers in Japan. Around this time every year a big fat tuna sells for an astronomical price in Tokyo's behemoth fish market, bringing a year of prosperity to the buyer. For the fifth time in a row, this year's highest bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of a sushi restaurant chain, who bought a 200kg (440lb) endangered bluefin tuna for 14 million yen ($117,283; £80,000) at the first auction of the year at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor As of yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 6th Jan 2016) business executives have made more money than the majority of people will make during the whole of this year according to the High Pay Centre. The research has discovered that fat cats have already passed the average UK salary of £27,645 a mere two working days into the New Year. The High Pay Centre, an independent think tank, reported that FTSE 100 chief executives receive an average...

The stock markets have made a panicked start to 2016 with more than £34 billion wiped off the FTSE within an hour on the first day of trading in 2016. There were similar falls across other major European and Asian indices as concerns over China's slowdown hit again. Shanghai’s stock market had to be suspended earlier in the day having lost almost seven per cent of its value thanks to weak manufacturing data.Markets were also affected by the uncertainty being triggered by...

When it comes to digital security, we are the weakest link. In the world of technology, human error can be the difference between success and catastrophe. Nowhere is this truer than in the workplace, where humans can be the biggest threat to your IT system. An infographic designed by IT support solutions company, TSG, reveals that humans are responsible for all manner of IT security problems in the workplace, from stealing company data to accidentally installing viruses. In 2013 alone,...