Business and Economics

New Oxfam research has revealed runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world's population. The report, published ahead of the annual gathering of the world's financial and political elites in Davos, found the wealth of the poorest half of the world's population - that's 3.6 billion people - has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010.  This drop has occurred despite the global population increasing by around 400 million people during...

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,...

Public trust in business is flat-lining, according to Philippa Foster Back CBE from the Institute of Business Ethics. The latest survey from the IBE shows that corporate tax avoidance remains the top public concern about business behaviour for 2015. The study found that the public's general opinion about ethical business behaviour has failed to improve, with nearly 40 per cent still saying they consider British business behaves unethically. Although most Brits have historically leaned towards businesses behaving 'ethically' than 'not ethically', over...

If you're familiar with the glazed stare that spreads across your face when your manager asks you to "action" the "quick and dirty" by "EOP" then you may be one of the 70 per cent of workers who admit they completely switch off if their boss starts talking in business-speak. A new study by working animal charity SPANA polling 2,000 office workers has found that many can’t stand to hear cheesy phrases such as ‘it’s on my radar’, ‘peel the onion’ and ‘reach...