UK Business Headlines

	Eurozone crisis live: Bankia shares plunge after reports of customers withdrawing funds May 17, 2012 \| Author: Graeme Wearden \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk • El Mundo: €1bn taken out since Bankia nationalisation • Spanish bond yields jump at auction • Vince Cable: Germany can solve the crisis • Prime minister will urge eurozone leaders to take urgent action to stem the crisis • CEBR: C ... [read more]
	Cameron delivers speech on euro crisis and UK economy: Politics live blog May 17, 2012 \| Author: Andrew Sparrow \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk • David Cameron's speech - summary [read more]
	Pinterest valued at more than $1bn after raising $100m funding May 17, 2012 \| Author: Charles Arthur \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Popular social network valued at between $1bn and $1.5bn following a $100m round of funding [read more]
	Greek worries push European markets down further May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Fears that Greece might leave the euro currency union, with uncertain consequences for the rest of Europe, pushed the continent's markets down again today, though Asian stocks eked out gains thanks to good economic growth figures out of ... [read more]
	Facebook set for monster floatation May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Facebook is heading for one of the biggest ever US stock flotations when it sells hundreds of millions of shares to the public. [read more]
	Sandwich labels misleading consumers May 17, 2012 \| Author: Rebecca Smithers \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Tesco, Aldi, Caffe Nero and Greggs criticised by Which? for failing to print 'traffic-light labelling' on the front of packs [read more]
	David Cameron urges eurozone to follow UK model for recovery May 17, 2012 \| Author: Haroon Siddique, Dan Milmo \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Cameron says eurozone is at a crossroads and urges it to adopt its own pro-business, pro-growth agenda [read more]
	SFO make arrests in football apprenticeship investigation May 17, 2012 \| Author: Simon Bowers \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk The Serious Fraud Office gave a provisional estimate of £1.6m for the fraudulent claims suspected to have been made by Luis Michael Training [read more]
	General Motors saves Vauxhall factory at Ellesmere Port May 17, 2012 \| Author: Dan Milmo \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Feared closure averted as GM announces that next Astra car model will be built at Merseyside and Polish plants [read more]
	Spain auctions €2.5 billion in medium term debt May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Spain managed to auction nearly €2.5 billion ($3.18 billion) in medium-term debt today amid strong demand but at sharply higher interest rates, reflecting concerns that the country will be caught up in the fallout of the Greek crisis. [read more]
	Vauxhall confirms new Astra wil be built at Ellesmere Port in £125m jobs boost May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The UK economy received a major boost today with news of a £125 million investment in Vauxhall's car plant, creating thousands of new jobs. [read more]
	French Connection shares plunge after another profits warning May 17, 2012 \| Author: Rupert Neate \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk The company, which made a £8.2m loss last year, warns investors that it 'appears unlikely' that its profits will meet City expectations this year [read more]
	Wapping finds a buyer now that the fortress has become a village May 17, 2012 \| Author: Roy Greenslade \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk News International's "Fortress Wapping", having been renamed "Wapping Village", is about to be sold. [read more]
	We risk being shut out of financial markets, warns Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The Spanish Prime Minister has vigorously defended the austerity policies that united thousands who protested against the harsh cuts this week by warning that the country risked being shut out of the financial markets unless it works to ... [read more]
	French gloom punishes Kesa shares May 17, 2012 \| Author: Rupert Neate \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Kesa, which last year paid private equity firm £50m to take British electricals group Comet off its hands, warned that trading 'remained weak in most of our markets' [read more]
	Vince Cable: no need for UK to panic over Greek crisis May 17, 2012 \| Author: Patrick Wintour \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Business secretary says creation of financial firewalls means crisis should not spread to other countries, including UK [read more]
	UK car production up 9.3% as General Motors announce Ellesmere Port Vauxhall investment May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The number of cars built in the UK last month was almost 10 per cent up on a year ago, boosted by strong export demand, new figures showed. [read more]
	Regulation and improvement: it's time for the housing sector to grow up May 17, 2012 \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Social housing providers have to show they can deliver what residents want without a regulator looking over their shoulder [read more]
	Bank of England sees inflation up and growth falling May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The Bank of England has slashed its 2012 growth forecasts for the UK economy, raised its near-term inflation outlook and issued a warning about the potential economic damage the eurozone sovereign debt crisis could inflict. [read more]
	Pay vote clears the way for Ellesmere Port Vauxhall investment May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Vauxhall car workers have voted massively in favour of a new pay and conditions deal which clears the way for huge new investment in the UK motor industry. [read more]
	Pay vote clears the way for Vauxhall investment May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Vauxhall car workers have voted massively in favour of a new pay and conditions deal which clears the way for huge new investment in the UK motor industry. [read more]
	What Money Can't Buy by Michael Sandel – review May 17, 2012 \| Author: John Lanchester \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Michael Sandel challenges the idea that markets are morally neutral [read more]
	'Vulture funds' circle as Greece fears grow May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business An American tax exile living in the Cayman Islands has emerged as a winner from the chaos engulfing Greece, even as the political and economic turmoil in the beleaguered nation deepened yesterday, with Athens putting a senior judge in c ... [read more]
	Hamish McRae: There is an inconsistency, and it's probably the GDP May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Recession, higher inflation – but falling unemployment, very low pay rises and 100,000 more jobs. It does not quite hang together, does it? Yesterday saw two big chunks of new information about the British economy, the monthly labour st ... [read more]
	Demand drives up size of Facebook float May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Facebook has increased the size of its initial public offering by almost 25 per cent, and could raise as much as $16bn (£10bn) as strong investor demand for a share of the social network trumps debate about its long-term potential to ma ... [read more]
	Is the UK economy being dragged down by Europe? May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee obeys Wittgenstein's proposition: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." In its quarterly Inflation Report, published yesterday, the Bank said: "The MPC sees ... [read more]
	Fund run by JPMorgan bet against Whale May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business Hedge funders were not the only market whiz-kids betting against JPMorgan's disastrous London Whale trading positions. Another part of his own bank was too. [read more]
	South Sudan refuses to be held to ransom by the north \| Nicky Woolf May 17, 2012 \| Author: Nicky Woolf \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk A shutdown of South Sudan's oil fields is a response to the north's exorbitant price for transporting oil through its pipeline [read more]
	National Grid sees profits and debts rise May 17, 2012 \| Author: Terry Macalister \| Source: Guardian Business\| guardian.co.uk Profits were up by 5% to £2.6bn but National Grid said that debt levels had risen by nearly £1bn to £19.6bn [read more]
	Thousands of jobs saved as Ellesmere Port Vauxhall plant reprieved May 17, 2012 \| Source: Independent Business The threatened Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port has been saved and hundreds of new jobs will be created there, its American parent company General Motors will announce today. [read more]