The annual survey carried out by the Natwest Bank claims that over 40 percent of the 750,000 undergraduates will be working part time during the forthcoming academic year.
The study, called the Natwest Student Living Index, also concluded that working students will earn approximately GBP2 billion over the year, a substantial sum by anyones calculation. The reality of student life is that they have to take on a part time job in order to have enough money to get by.
The Natwest Bank survey is also helpful for students considering where to study as it highlights the best places money wise. Plymouth is deemed to be the best place to be a student where money is concerned, while Exeter is seen as the most expensive.
Citibank has reorganised its operations in the Asia Pacific area, giving top executives in the region much greater responsibility for more of the different products offered.
The move is just one of many creative attempts by the Chief Executive to stir up business activity as well as managing costs since he took over late last year. Such actions have been necessary to help realign Citibank after it suffered badly in the aftermath of the American sub prime lending collapse.
The Asia Pacific region is to be split down into four sub-categories – North Asia, South Asia, Japan and Southeast Asia Pacific – each of which will have a head responsible for all of the different product categories offered by Citibank.
Barclays Bank recently announced they were considering a sale of shares to avoid a rights issue and this has led to interest from Temasek Holdings in Singapore and QIA, the Qatar Investment Authority.
The bank is looking to raise over GBP4 billion to fund the different areas of business, such as Barclays Insurance, as well as the high street banking operation. The QIA, which holds a stake of over 15 percent in the London Stock Exchange, expressed an interest in European banks as early as January this year, so they are seen to be a very interested party already.
Temasek Holdings also have a 2 percent stake in Barclays Bank already and will be very interested to see how the numbers add up for this latest opportunity. There has been talk of valuations needing to be reassessed although nothing firm has come from this to date. Perhaps as buyers get nearer to committing Barclays will need to ensure everything is in place to make the sales process a smooth one.
