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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British households have lost about $750 (GBP 500) in the past 12 months, according to a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies released on Friday. It is considered the largest drop in household income since 1981, and is equal to what households made in 2004.

The think tank said that average take-home income actually went up despite the recent recession because of low inflation and higher social benefits, but the long-term effects of the recession and the threat of a higher consumer price index negated the income hike.

The institute blamed the decline on rising inflation and lower wage increases.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King earlier warned that British households may suffer from a substantial reduction in their spending power and advised families to anticipate a two-digit increase in energy bills, which would push the inflation rate to 5 percent by the end of 2011.

The study was based on data from 2009-10 when Britain was still under a Labour-led government. At that time, average income was still going up faster than inflation, but the think tank said the trend appears to have reversed beginning last year. During this period, earnings dropped by 3.8 percent in real terms for the first 11 months.

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Airways and the Unite union have hammered out a deal to end a long-standing that now only awaits ratification by the ballot vote of nearly 10,000 cabin crew members.

Ratification looks likely because 2,000 cabin crew members of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association approved the deal at a mass meeting. That means a strike planned for next week will not take place. There have been 22 days of strikes against the airline during the nearly two years of disputes over pay and benefits.

The agreement calls for a 4 percent hike in pay this year and a 3.5 percent increase next year.

In addition, travel perks that were cut will be restored.

Both the union and the airline made concessions to reach agreement.

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – Banking giant HSBC announced Wednesday that it plans to shave costs by up to $3.5 billion with a combination of strategies, including reducing its retail and wealth management divisions as well as trimming IT operations.

HSBC is Europe’s largest bank, but it also has a large presence in other regions, operating in 87 countries with a staff of more than 287,000 people. No estimates of the potential size of staff cuts were given.

The bank revealed problems with spending versus revenue on Monday. Rising operational costs took 61 percent of revenue during the first quarter of the year, which cut into profits.

Bank officials say they want to cut operational costs by 48 to 52 percent by 2013. That equates to a reduction in annual costs of about $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion by 2013. Part of the cost savings will come from moving technology development operations to low-cost countries.

HSBC said it would focus on more profitable markets. That means it will pull out of Russia while directing investment into countries such as Mexico and Turkey and expanding into regions such as the Middle East and Asia.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – The pay gap between public and private sector employees in Britain widened further from 2008 to 2010, according to a study by British think tank Policy Exchange released over the weekend.

According to the report, a government sports and leisure assistant got an average pay hike of 13.5 percent during the three-year period, while a worker in a private company with a similar job go only an average pay hike of 12.2 percent.

Worse off were private school teachers who even got a 12 percent pay cut, while their public school counterparts received a salary adjustment of 2.1 percent.

Reckoned on an hourly basis, the hourly rate of a mid-income public employee was $20.31 (GBP 13.54), while that of a private sector worker was about $15.09 (GBP 10.06).

However, certain private sector high earners such as bankers, football players and television stars have salaries that were much higher than their public counterparts.

Union officials however are downplaying the Policy Exchange study citing the return of the culture of large city bonuses, while council staff are going through job reductions.

Private company workers, though are expected to catch up because state workers’ pay is frozen until 2008 as Britain reduces its budget deficit and debt. Chancellor George Osborne has sought at least a two-year nationwide wage freeze for public workers and to reform pension systems for state workers.

The only exception to the rule of the larger pay hike was in Yorkshire. The pay disparity was particularly felt in Wales and the northwest.

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 20.4 percent of U.K.’s population are employed in the public sector. The number had actually gone down from 21.1 percent and is expected to be further reduced because of the coalition government’s austerity measures.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Carbon Trust, a British government think tank, foresees a bright future for the country’s marine energy sector whose value is expected to reach $114 billion (GBP 76 billion) in the next four decades.

Carbon Trust released Monday an analysis of the sector, weeks after the coalition government ended public subsidy for the industry.

According to the trust, Britain is capable of capturing about one-fourth of the global wave and tidal power market if the country builds on its existing lead. This in turn could support up to 68,000 jobs by 2050.

Carbon Trust estimated the potential energy production at 27.5 gigawatts in the U.K. by 2050, which would be sufficient to power more than 20 percent of the current electricity demand of the country.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne cut the $63-million (GBP 42 million) marine renewable deployment fund and it’s most ambitious marine project, the 10-mile long Severn Barrage,

But Huhne allowed smaller schemes to proceed, such as the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura in western Scotland. About 35 of the world’s 120 to 130 wave energy and tidal stream devices developers are based in Britain.

Among them are Spanish group Gamesa, which is about to build a wind turbine factory in Humber, Harwich or Tyneside as part of the company’s $190.5 million (GBP 127 million) plan to focus on offshore wind business in the U.K.

Another one is IT giant Siemens, which has committed to construct an offshore wind turbine plant in Hill and create 10,000 jobs in the region. Manufacturers General Electric and Mitsubishi are scouting for factory sites in the U.K.

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – Unemployment fell by 17,000 in the United Kingdom to 2.48 million during the three months ending in February.

That brought the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It marked the first time since last fall that unemployment fell in the UK.

However, the number of people claiming unemployment compensation payments rose to 1.45 million, ONS officials said.

The unemployment rate for men fell by 31,000 while the number of jobless women rose by 14,000 for the three months ending in February. Some 462,300 women are claiming jobless benefits, which is the highest number since October 1996.

Along with women, people in the 16- to 24-year-old group saw unemployment rise by 143,000 to 963,000. However, people in the 50- to 64-year-old age group had no change in their unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, while the rate for those over 65 fell to 1.9 percent.

The total number of unemployed people rose by 143,000 people to 29.23 million, according to ONS statistics.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – More than 890,000 British workers are expected to benefit from a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission to hike the national minimum wage beginning October. The new rates, which ministers have approved, are $9.96 (GBP 6.08) per hour for adult workers and $8.16 (GBP 4.98) for youth workers aged 18 to 20.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the salary adjustment reflects the present economic uncertainty, but provides protection to the country’s lowest-paid employees. Low Pay Commission Chairman David Norgrove said the new rates provide a proper balance between the financial needs of the low-paid workers and challenges faced by businesses.

British Chambers of Commerce Director General David Frost disagreed with the pay adjustment, announced by the commission Thursday. Instead of hiking the wage of those who have jobs, Frost said the government should have given higher priority to providing employment to jobless Britons.

Wages for 16- to 17-year old workers will also go up to $6.03 (GBP 3.68) and for apprentices to $4.26 (GBP 2.60) an hour.

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Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom (AHN) – A U.K. computer software company is seeking female web coders to work in the nude. Nude House, is marketing its office environment as a “warm and private” space with a naturist attitude.

Company spokesman Chris Taylor in a published Register said, “As far as I am aware this is not only the first UK office job for naturists in web-coding or web-selling, but is also the first worldwide facility for naturists to earn substantial sums of money from work that incidentally provides them with the capability to work entirely without clothes.

“Because it is the first establishment in the world it is difficult to advertise – many seem to confuse the issue of being without clothes as being a place without concerns for personal freedom, where sex is paramount in its many varied forms.

“Sex does not play a part in naturism – yes one is aware of differences in sex and size and shape and age of everyone, but the concern is on sales and technical ability, not availability.”

Nude House business model includes selling imaging software that lets customers create product or hyperlink boxes on top of pictures.

Taylor goes on to say that the clothing liberal office does not bear “any benefit to business productivity other than providing a nice facility for the staff”.

The company website says: “New applicants will be required to work in the nude from the time they arrive at work until they leave to go home.

“Nude means no clothes whatsoever and no shoes either. All new applicants will be naturists and could be males or females.”

The company also has a sister company called Songbird – its IT staffers work fully clothed.

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – The largest protest in London since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 turned violent Saturday when anarchists attacked what they considered symbols of capitalism, including shops and a luxury hotel.

Hundreds of thousands of mostly peaceful demonstrators converged on Hyde Park to protest major budget cuts that could result in about 300,000 public sector jobs lost by 2015. The protests were organized by the Trade Union Congress.

But while the demonstrators marched, hundreds of anarchists with their faces covered went on the offensive, smashing store windows, clashing with police and taking over the tony department store Fortnum and Mason near Piccadilly Circus.

The Daily Mirror reported that up to 300 people were in Trafalgar Square late into Saturday night. Some were throwing objects at the 2012 Olympic countdown clock.

Others defaced statues with spray paint. Police were attacked with objects including paint containers and light bulbs filled with ammonia. More than 80 people were injured during the riots, including about 31 police officers.

Other significant targets of the anarchists were the Ritz Carlton Hotel, which was attacked with paint and smoke bombs, and a Porsche showroom, according to several media reports.

The Trade Union Congress condemned the violence and said it hoped it did not detract from the legitimate protests of the day.

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Londfon, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility warned Thursday that Britons’ standard of living is expected to fall in the next two years as inflation eclipses expected salary hikes.

Among the scenarios foreseen by the OBR is the consumer price index hitting 6 percent, which would cause many households to further tighten their belts amid austerity measures put in place by the coalition government. However, the OBR predicted wages will rise by a mere 2 percent average this year.

A prediction of a new age of austerity was made by Oxford Economics as early as two years ago as a result of the recession that downgraded living standards in Britain to below the 2005 level.

According to Oxford Economics, gross domestic product per capita in 2009 dipped to $34,050 (GBP 22,700) from $34,500 (GBP 23,000) in 2005, which already took into account the 1.3 percent inflation rate then.

Another British think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the government needs to identify another $6 billion (GBP 4 billion) in savings due to the rising inflation rate.

British Chancellor George Osborne had admitted it would be a difficult year for Britons, although he was optimistic unemployment would go down as more jobs are created and some growth would be registered each year. To help Britons cope with the rising cost of living, Osborne announced on Wednesday a one-pence reduction in fuel duty.

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