Daily Business News Round Up 20/08

The Artesian blog takes a look at the business headlines, For personalised daily news, contact Artesian

Small UK deficit seen in July - Markets are expecting July's public finances to show a small deficit in what is traditionally a surplus month for the government's coffers -- but there is reason to believe the reading could be even worse.

Two out of three months reported so far in this fiscal year have already turned out worse than expected as the recession hits tax income and boosts welfare costs in a year when borrowing is forecast to hit a record 175 billion pounds. (full story)


Tesco to create 800 finance jobs - Tesco Personal Finance is expected to announce plans to create up to 800 jobs in Glasgow as part of the company's rapid expansion in Scotland.

The move to set up an insurance office in the city centre will be seen as a boost to the financial sector. (full story)

City perplexed by Lloyds' U-turn on C&G closures - Lloyds Banking Group surprised 930 staff at 164 Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) branches yesterday with the news that it was not going to sack them after all.

While C&G employees breathed a sigh of relief that they would not be joining the UK’s 2.4 million unemployed, analysts and investors scratched their heads at the baffling about-turn in strategy — left unexplained by Lloyds. (full story)


Manufacturers See Light At End Of The Tunnel - Optimism in the manufacturing sector has climbed to its highest level in more than a year.

The latest CBI Industrial Trends Survey suggested growing confidence in the sector in August despite suffering another month of weak demand. (full story)

UK’s cash-for-bangers effect may prove temporary solace - At Toyota’s plant in Derbyshire, staff have been working shorter hours since April. But on Wednesday the Japanese car giant said the company’s workers could start full-time production again – a need they attributed to the success of the government’s “cash for bangers” programme.

Car scrappage graphic for UK companiesToyota, Hyundai and Fiat are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme, which aims to reinvigorate the moribund car market. But car dealerships have also gained and two of the biggest – Lookers and Pendragon – have used half-year results in the past couple of days to call on the government to extend the scheme. (full story)