News

Here's a handy business guide to Debt Finance from OakNorth Bank. Debt financing is a method of borrowing money whilst not giving up or selling off ownership of your business. The bank was created to help the UK’s growth businesses and entrepreneurs reach their potential by providing them with bespoke, no-nonsense debt finance solutions, delivered in days or weeks rather than months. 5 points to consider before applying for debt finance from banks, in the UK Featured image: Nguyen Hung Vu via Flickr -...

Workers in the UK working via employment agencies are not getting a fair deal, says the Resolution Foundation. The problem is growing as the number of agency staff has increased rapidly in recent years. The Think-Tank found that agency workers are disproportionately drawn from ethnic minorities and are concentrated in low-paid industries and lower-skilled jobs. There are now 865,000 agency staff in the UK, which has risen 200,000 since 2011. Over the last 18 months, 14% of agency workers were also...

More good news for cyclists in the capital as the Mayor of London has announced a plan to invest £770m on cycling initiatives across London. The funding will be spread over five years, seeing £154m per annum to fund infrastructure and promote cycling. Khan wants to make cycling in the capital a "safe and obvious choice for Londoners of all ages and backgrounds". There have been numerous deaths of cyclists in recent years, prompting calls for safer cycle lanes around...

A disillusioned fox hunt organiser says he has seen "no evidence of hounds killing a fox", despite pictures and videos been released showing a savage attack at a hunt on Saturday. Animal rights activists recorded a fox being illegally hunted and killed by members of the Old Surrey Burstow & West Kent Hunt near Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The video appears to show a pack of dogs attacking a fox in woodland, before the fox is then removed from the hounds by...

We have all suffered Basil Fawlty bouts of rage in our life, but the good news is that we no longer have to resort to beating our car with a branch in order to vent our frustration. A former fork-lift truck driver has opened the UK's first 'Rage Cage', offering punters the opportunity to destroy household items with bats and hammers. The bizarre attraction - in a disused church - gives children and adults the chance to take out their anger on...

The world's first hydrogen-powered double-decker bus will be trialled in London next year as part of a scheme to phase out 'dirty' diesel buses. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced on Wednesday that no more 'dirty' pure diesel buses would be added to Transport for London's (TfL) fleet from 2018. Every new single-decker bus made for central London will also be zero-emission. Mr Khan said: "I'm implementing hard-hitting measures to clean up London's toxic air. "I want London to become a...

A London teenager has been jailed for almost three years for dealing thousands of pounds worth of drugs to help his struggling mother with household bills. Mustafa Hussein claimed his mum was working two jobs as money was tight in the house, so he started selling drugs to pay the £3,000 rent arrears. The 19-year-old took drug packages from where he lived in Canning Town, east London, to Kent and was handed a knife and a mobile phone by criminals. One...

After a miserable year for British rail it has today been announced that train fares will be hiked by an average of 2.3 per cent from 2 January. With Southern Rail putting passengers through a torrid year and franchises across the country crumbling owing to a lack of investment, the price increase will come as a slap in the face for most commuters. Some unregulated fares are likely to rise by considerably more than 2.3 per cent, which far outstrips the inflation...

The UK's only LEGO Certified Professional has constructed a 700,000 brick Santa's Workshop in the middle of Covent Garden. Duncan Titmarsh, from Farnham, Surrey, has used more than 10 million pieces since his prestigious appointment. One of only 14 official Lego builders in the world, he has built the world’s tallest Lego Christmas tree, a full size caravan and even a fully working greenhouse. And he holds the Guinness World Record for the largest Lego structure ever built – a replica of...