THE DAILY BRIEFING
BRITAIN WORKING Job vacancies are increasing despite uncertainty over what will happen to the economy when the UK leaves the European Union, says recruiter Reed.
It has had 110,000 jobs posted on its website so far this year –16pc up on the same period in 2016. STOCK RISES Ashmore shares soared 6.5pc on optimism at the investment manager – despite assets under management falling 4pc to £43.2bn in the last three months of 2016 as investors fled emerging markets after Donald Trump’s US election victory. RECORD BOOST Big data firm WANdisco has secured record bookings in the past three months, up 97pc to £8m, bringing the year’s total to £12.9m. It is a welcome boost after a year which saw boss David Richards ousted and reappointed days later. STRIKE ROW Talks will be held this week to resolve a long-running dispute on pay, pensions and job security at IT giant Fujitsu. Up to 300 members of Unite based in Manchester have been striking over redundancies planned for next month. COLLEGE INCOME Oxbridge colleges Christ Church and St Catherine’s in Oxford and Robinson in Cambridge are investing £14.5m in commercial property with First Property Group to boost their income. ELITE SALES Revenue at videogames maker Frontier Developments was up 66pc on the previous year in the six months to November 30, driven by its space trading game Elite: Dangerous, which has sold 2.1m. NEW ROUTES Airline BMI Regional is launching three European routes from Birmingham Airport to Graz in Austria, Nuremberg in Germany and Gothenburg in Sweden. FESTIVE BONUS Staff at Majestic Wine have shared £350,000 in bonuses after a bumper Christmas when sales soared 7.5pc rise in the ten weeks to January 2. HOTEL PLAN OakNorth bank has lent £16m to Liverpool developers Mason Partners to convert seven floors of the 11-storey Corn Exchange Building, into a 202-room aparthotel. CITY BASE Finnish video-game maker Rovio is opening a studio in London to build games that won’t rely on its popular Angry Birds brand. RETAIL ROLE Legal & General Retirement has appointed Chris Knight, who has been with L&G for eight years, as head of its retail customer division