PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - March 25

Financial Times

CBI CHIEF SEES "JUMPIER WATERS" AHEAD

According to CBI director-general Richard Lambert, Britain's economy is heading "into much jumpier waters". Lambert said: "While there are signs of a high street slowdown and some firms say it's getting harder to raise bank finance, around the country many still report quite positive conditions." The CBI, however, believes the credit crisis will prolong an economic slowdown that was already under way. It has reduced its forecast for growth for 2008 from two percent to 1.8 percent, and for 2009 from 2.1 percent to 1.7 percent. The CBI's economic forecast is close to the consensus for this year and gloomier than most independent forecasts for 2009.

WATCHDOG WARNS OVER RED TAPE SAVINGS TARGET

The National Audit Office has said Prime Minister Gordon Brown's pledge to reduce the burden of red tape on businesses by four billion pounds, and increase productivity by up 16 billion pounds is based on numbers that cannot be relied upon. Analysis by consultants put the total administrative cost of regulation at 20 billion pounds, but the NAO is concerned the government may be focusing on an inaccurate and potentially misleading target.

SAFETY TRAINING FAILURES AT WORK COST THIRTY BILLION POUNDS A YEAR

The British Safety Council estimates employers' failure to provide adequate safety training for workers is costing the economy over 30 billion pounds a year. Last year around six million working days were lost in Britain and 241 people were killed in workplace accidents. The charity asked 1,000 employees and 250 business leaders about their attitudes and practices on health and safety and found that 62 percent of employees had "little or no safety training" and "49 percent of bosses don't have or can't be bothered to put a safety management system in place". The annual bill for accidents in the workplace for employers alone was 7.8 billion pounds and the annual cost to the economy was "equivalent to 500 pounds a year for every man, woman and child, or 10 brand new hospitals".

FORECASTS FOR OFFICE BUILDING IN THE CITY CUT BY HALF

The two largest property agents operating in the City market, CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle, have significantly downgraded their forecasts for City development to take account of the shift in confidence among developers in London. CB Richard Ellis now expects about 6.3 million square feet to be built in the City between 2009 and 2011, a near 50 percent drop from the 13.5 million square feet which it expected to be built during the period this time last year. Jones Lang LeSalle's Neil Prime said: "The combination of impossible-to-get speculative funding, rising construction costs and uncertainty in the occupier market has meant that there are few willing to put a shovel in the ground right now."