British cities outside the capital city of London are currently facing a bigger shortfall in productivity compared with their counterparts ⁠in other countries, with outdated and limited transport links identified by organisations such as the OECD as a key factor.

“Rail links in the north, home to three of the five largest metropolitan areas in England, are plagued by bottlenecks on lines that date back to the ⁠Victorian era. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, lagging far behind the right-wing Reform Party UK in opinion polls, has said reducing regional inequality between London and ‍the rest of the UK is a top priority,” reported Reuters.

“If economic growth is the challenge, investment and renewal is the solution. That’s why we’re reversing years of chronic underinvestment in the North,” said Finance Minister Rachel Reeves.

Most of the spending, capped at 45 billion pounds in constant prices, will take place in the 2030s and 2040s. There will be no binding dates for opening, a lesson from the HS2 high-speed rail project that was cut short due to ballooning costs.

In October 2023, the then Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, cancelled the northern leg of HS2 as costs soared, while the infrastructure watchdog warned there was a fundamental problem with Britain’s ability to manage such large projects.

The Starmer government now intends to build a new railway line between ‌Manchester and the central English city of Birmingham after completion of Northern Powerhouse Rail, although it would not be a “reinstatement” of former HS2 plans.

It stated that it was learning from the failures of HS2, which will now operate only between London and slightly north of Birmingham, with an opening date pushed beyond the previously targeted 2033.

The post Keir Starmer government commits to key rail project for northern England appeared first on International Finance.

The defence secretary made his remarks after numerous reports said that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was considering abandoning the enormous HS2 rail project, which has seen costs soar.

A wave of severe strikes affecting every sector of the economy, from physicians to train drivers, has resulted from the rise in housing and food prices in the United Kingdom.

The ongoing Ukraine war and other recent issues have put a strain on the nation’s defence budget.

According to Grant Shapps, “There are a number of different estimates, and I think that’s one of the things that the government wants to check, particularly on the costs now that the war in Ukraine has resulted in inflationary trends.”

“I have to say that it would be irresponsible to simply spend the money and carry on as if nothing had changed if there has been a change in that fiscal picture,” he continued.

The cost of the HS2 project, which aims to connect London with the major towns in the north of England, was originally projected to be 37.5 billion pounds (USD 46 billion) in 2013, but it has since risen to about 100 billion pounds.

It will be the country’s second high-speed railway after HS1, which Eurostar uses in southeast England.

Former transport secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News that a choice would be made “in due time.”

However, he added, “There has to be a point at which you say, ‘Hold on a minute, let’s just take a break here'” if expenses continue to rise.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Greater Manchester stated that scrapping the HS2 link from Birmingham and Manchester will be risking ‘ripping the heart’ out of plans to improve rail services across northern England.

Andy Burnham said axing the extension risked creating a “north-south chasm”.

The project risks running into limbo as the Rishi Sunak government has not guaranteed the line will run from the Midlands to the North West.

Rishi Sunak told the media, “Transport infrastructure is a key part of that, but not just big rail projects, but also local projects, improving local bus services, fixing potholes, all of these things make a difference in people’s day-to-day lives.”

Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is now lagging behind the main opposition Labour Party in surveys, and a general election is anticipated for next year.

The high-speed rail project is intended to link London, the Midlands and the north of England.

Despite the first part between west London and Birmingham being put under the construction phase, the scheme as a whole has been facing delays, cost increases and cuts, including the planned eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds which was axed in late 2021.

In March 2023, the Sunak government announced that building the line between Birmingham and Crewe, and then onto Manchester, would be delayed for at least two years.

The post United Kingdom Minister Grant Shapps sounds ‘Fiscal Warning’ on key high-speed train project appeared first on International Finance.

Participants will benefit from hands-on opportunities to learn new technologies; academic and applied research; roundtables for exchanging views on important communications issues; dozens of workshops with tools that can be implemented immediately; an opportunity to experience a wide range of faith expressions; cross-pollination of creative ideas and innovations by mixing with professionals from all media disciplines; and global views and local relevance.

The first Congress in 1970 was held in Chicago, Illinois, and “arose from a simple idea: to provide a forum to expand the experience and broaden the perspective of professional communicators in faith-based settings beyond their specialised work area,” Poole said. Subsequent congresses were held in Nashville, Tennessee (1980 and 1990) and Chicago (2000 and 2010). More than 1,000 participants from around the world attended each of the last two Chicago events.

Poole, who is executive director of university communication at Samford University in Birmingham, served as program co-chair for RCCongress 2000 and was on the steering committee for RCCongress 2010. He has served as national president for two religion communications organisations—Religion Communicators Council and Baptist Communicators Association. He is also an active, accredited member (APR) of the Public Relations Society of America.

“Leadership from previous congresses sought a coordinator for RCCongress 2020 who had a notable background in global religion communication and organisation,” said Shirley Struchen, who coordinated both the 2000 and 2010 Congresses. “Philip’s background in and commitment to interfaith communication and initiatives, his involvement with previous Congresses, his leadership in multiple organisations and his administrative skills all resonated with those of us tasked with enlisting a coordinator.”

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This is the second year PepsiCo and Feed the Children have partnered to help feed families in the city of Birmingham, where more than 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. This distribution event is part of a larger initiative between the two organizations to help feed communities in cities throughout the United States.

The receiving families were identified and preselected by the Birmingham Housing Authority.

Each qualifying recipient was given:

• One 25-pound box of nonperishable food items
• One 15-pound box of personal-care items
• One box of AVON products
• Books from Disney Publishing Worldwide
• One 20-count Frito-Lay snacks
• PepsiCo beverages
• Life Original Cereal
• Standard Quaker Oats
• Chewy Granola Bars
• Canned goods from Piggly Wiggly

“We’re excited to partner with Feed the Children, the City of Birmingham and Piggly Wiggly in helping our friends and neighbors in the Birmingham community,” said Marla Daudelin, region vice president,  central gulf sales, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division. “Frito-Lay and PepsiCo are committed to giving back to our communities where we live and work, and providing enough food to supplement meals for a week is a small way we can help make a difference.”

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Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

July 6, 2016: Britain’s historic decision to leave the EU has sparked a period of volatility across the world’s financial markets. The pound sank to multi year lows against the dollar. David Cameron’s decision to step down has only added to its woes.

However, even the darkest clouds come with a silver lining. The deterioration will now allow investors from around the world, especially the Middle East, to invest in London’s residential property.

International real estate consultancy, Cluttons, states that for those invested in the property market, the deterioration in the value of the pound overnight will have erased any gains in recent years, particularly buyers from the Gulf, whose currencies retain a fixed peg to the US dollar.

Basically, any US dollar or UAE dirham investor will find the price of an average Central London residential asset cheaper by $96,000 (Dhs 350,000). “Gulf investors eyeing up a London residential asset will find it 31% cheaper than it was during the last market peak in Q3 2007, suggesting that we may be on the cusp of seeing a significant resumption in property investment activity in the British capital,” says Faisal Durrani, head of research, Cluttons.

Victoria Garrett, partner, head of international project marketing (MENA), Knight Frank, says, “For Middle East buyers, Europe is a key destination. Within Europe, UK is the primary market where Middle East investors like to put their money in. Hence, Brexit has only helped them go after the market they have been eyeing for a long time.”

A report by CBRE in January found that Middle East buyers invested £2.72bn on snapping up hotels in the UK in 2015. In fact, the UK was the biggest market for Middle East investors in the whole of Europe. Recent assets acquired by Middle East investors include Claridge’s, The Connaught and the Berkeley in London’s Knightsbridge. The report also stated that Middle East investors would soon account for up to 30 per cent of the sales of new prime London properties. For Middle East property investors, the top four locations are London, Paris, Milan and Lyon.

Garrett says, “UK remains a destination of choice for investors from the GCC who have been investing in the market for a long time. The fact that the market has a transparent legal system and property tenure is clear-cut and underpinned by the legal system makes it all the more attractive for buyers.”

In fact, from trophy assets to investment properties, not restricted to Central London, Middle East buyers cover the whole spectrum in terms of the type of properties they acquire. “The buyers are looking at areas like East London where they are finding very good value for money. We have also seen a drive for investment into areas such as Birmingham and Manchester where the entry points are much lower and the yields are higher,” says Garrett.

“There are Middle East buyers who are taking advantage of the current situation by converting their funds into sterling to show their readiness to buy. I will not be surprised if the second half of the year actually sees Middle East clients in the city hunting for properties,” says an expert from Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL).

Durrani says the longer term implications are too early to assess, but ‘we may start to see a change in London’s long stalled residential property market’. “This has the potential to free up much needed stock in the capital and allow the resumption of more regular levels of transactional activity,” he says.

The post Post-Brexit, Middle East property investors eyeing UK appeared first on International Finance.

June 14, 2016: Blackburn is the money transfer capital of the UK, according to data from global money transfer experts Xpress Money. The company analysed transactions from thousands of UK customers over one month in 2016. Over double the amount of money was transferred from Blackburn as from Birmingham (number 2) in the same period. From an inbound perspective Southall tops the list of receiving destinations.

From sending money to extended family through to scheduled bill payments and pension transfers, the UK is now a huge market in a global industry worth an estimated £400 billion annually.

The busiest transfer corridors were also identified with Pakistan being the most popular destination for outgoing transfers followed by Nigeria and India. The highest volume of inbound transfers comes from the United Arab Emirates which currently homes an estimated250,000 Britons living and working in the country. The main localities where British nationals are based are Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Sudhesh Giriyan, Chief Operating Officer at Xpress Money said, “The UK has a vibrant and varied population and is arguably, one of the most connected countries on the globe. For this reason, we are seeing a huge growth in this market and our UK customers are the first to adopt new mobile and transfer technologies.”

Data from Xpress Money shows that Mondays are by far the most popular day of the week for transferring funds abroad, dropping down to Sundays, when fewer than 3% of total transactions take place. September is the most popular month for money transfers from the UK, followed by July and June.

Last month, Xpress Money launched a new money transfer service which is currently exclusive to the UK. The XOPO app allows users to send money to a possible 160 destination countries by selecting contacts from popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Those abroad can use this service to send a request for money back to friends and family in the UK. The sender does not need to input the beneficiary’s bank details as these are stored away from social channels in a secure network.

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