6:42 am, September 26, 2023
UK workplace absences soar to highest level in decade, report finds
Workplace absences across the UK have soared to the highest level in a decade, a new report has found.
The Chartered Institute for Professional Development and health cash plans provider Simplyhealth analysed sickness absence and employee health among 918 organisations, representing 6.5m employees.
They found that staff were absent from work for an average of 7.8 days over the past year – the highest rate seen in 10 years.
UK to sign sixth US state-level trade agreement
The UK is poised to sign its sixth trade agreement with a US state.
Industry and economic security minister Nusrat Ghani will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Washington state in Seattle – home to major companies including Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft and Boeing, with the aerospace sector a priority under the pact.
With hopes of a full-blown trade deal with the US abandoned, Britain has been focusing on smaller state-by-state agreements. The other states are Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Utah.
Five Bulgarians charged with spying for Russia to appear in court
Five Bulgarians charged with spying for Russia are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.
The three men and two women are accused of conspiring to gather information between August 2020 and February this year that would be useful to an enemy.
They were arrested by the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command in February under the Official Secrets Act.
Lego scraps plan to make bricks out of recycled drinks bottles
Lego has ditched plans to make bricks out of recycled drinks bottles after finding the new material failed to cut carbon emissions.
The Danish toy giant announced in 2021 it was researching whether PET plastic (polyethylene terephthalate) – which does not degrade in quality when recycled – could be used to make its building bricks.
But the firm said that after more than two years of testing, it found the new material didn’t reduce emissions.
Insurer Aviva snaps up AIG’s UK protection arm in £460m deal
Insurance giant Aviva has agreed to buy the UK protection arm of American International Group (AIG) for £460m.
The deal to snap up AIG Life UK will add 1.3m individual protection customers and 1.4m group members.
Duo who confronted Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist to be honoured
Two men who tackled the Fishmongers’ Hall terror attacker in 2019 are to be honoured at Windsor Castle today.
John Crilly and Likasz Koczocik, two of the four men who confronted convicted terrorist Usman Khan until armed police arrived at the scene, will receive the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. The pair featured in this year’s Civilian Gallantry List, the last to be approved by the Queen before she died.
Crilly hosed Khan with a fire extinguisher after Koczocik had used a long ceremonial pike taken from the walls of the building to disarm him. Khan fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, and injured three others before running on to London Bridge, where he was shot dead by police.
Man From U.N.C.L.E. star David McCallum dies at 90
Actor David McCallum, who became a teen heart-throb in the hit series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in the 1960s and was the eccentric medical examiner in the popular NCIS 40 years later, has died aged 90.
He died yesterday of natural causes, surrounded by family at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS said in a statement.
Scottish-born McCallum had been doing well appearing in such films as A Night To Remember, The Great Escape and The Greatest Story Ever Told, but it was The Man From U.N.C.L.E. that made the blond actor with the Beatles haircut a household name.
Nissan reveals striking Concept 20-23 hatchback
Nissan has revealed a concept car to celebrate 20 years of its London-based European design centre.
Called the Concept 20-23, the special car was unveiled yesterday by Nissan president and CEO Makoto Uchida on a floating barge moored on the Grand Union Canal outside Nissan Design Europe in Paddington.
Nissan says the three-door hot hatchback takes key design themes from its online racing and Formula E activities and features dramatically styled bodywork and wings to aid cooling and cut drag. It also features fat, vented arches housing large alloy wheels in low-profile tyres, and a large single-piece spoiler with endplates to generate downforce. Full story here
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Investigation: What will happen to used car prices in 2024? When will used car prices fall?
- Arnold Clark’s profits tumble for 2022 as increased costs take their toll
- Get your nominations in for Used Car Awards 2023! Just one week until the deadline!
- Pendragon to open flagship BYD showroom in Mayfair
- Cox Automotive European appoints Stuart Perham as new chief information officer
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 59.92 points down yesterday to end the day on 7,623.99. The Cac 40, meanwhile, was down 60.94 points at 7,123.88, the Dax was down 151.80 points at 15,405.49, but the Dow Jones was up 43.04 points at 34,006.88.
Weather outlook
Today will be breezy, says BBC Weather, and will see variable cloud and scattered showers for many, more likely in the south and east during the morning. It’ll be wetter in the north-west, with heavy rain pushing north-eastwards.
Wednesday will see Storm Agnes bring cloud, rain and strong winds across the UK, spreading northwards and eastwards during the day. Rain could be heavy and persistent, particularly in the west.
