“We see practically no chance of a rates freeze,” he said.Yesterday’s data follow recent figures showing that the economy grew by just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2001. The MPC will have to weigh this against signs of continued strength in the consumer economy. Halifax said yesterday that house prices rose 1.7 per cent in April ­ the strongest performance for seven months. Separate figures last month showed average earnings surged at the fastest rate for nine years in February, as the City handed out almost £500m more in bonuses than a year earlier.But the Office for National Statistics said yesterday that the bonus effect had skewed earnings growth by 1.5 per cent, cutting the 5.9 per cent figure to 4.4 per cent.That “underlines that the labour market is still not inflationary”, Deutsche Bank’s Ciaran Barr said “It’s all rate cut positive.”. Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer, is to open two new stores by 2003, with a distribution centre planned for Peterborough.

Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer, is to open two new stores by 2003, with a distribution centre planned for Peterborough. The openings, in Sheffield and Southampton, will create 1,450 jobs in Britain and are part of a £100m expansion, announced in June, to create more than 10,000 new jobs in the UK over 10 years. The total cost of the expansion will be around £700m.A new Cardiff store is also expected to open the same year. Ikea already has 10 stores in Britain, with the 11th scheduled for Glasgow this autumn, which is expected to create 600 jobs.The company said the new stores would cut down on queues and traffic congestion that plague the vicinities of its existing outlets. It said that last year 5 million customers travelled to stores in Leeds and Nottingham from Sheffield to shop at Ikea. The retailer has been criticised for its long queues at checkouts and in its car parks.

The company has said it is a victim of its own success.The Secretary of State for Employment, David Blunkett, welcomed the news. He said: “Ikea’s huge popularity in this country is bringing great benefits for the UK jobs market.” Ikea has 141 stores in 22 countries and last year recorded total sales of £5bn UK turnover was £584m.. CGNU, the largest insurance group in Britain, will continue to target the European life insurance market after yesterday reporting that successful bancassurance ventures in Italy and Spain had helped drive first-quarter pre-tax operating profits from its ongoing life insurance business 13 per cent higher to £444m. CGNU, the largest insurance group in Britain, will continue to target the European life insurance market after yesterday reporting that successful bancassurance ventures in Italy and Spain had helped drive first-quarter pre-tax operating profits from its ongoing life insurance business 13 per cent higher to £444m.
In Spain, Europe’s second-largest growing life market after Italy, new business sales increased to £133m from £25m as last summer’s bancassurance agreement with Bancaja, Spain’s fourth-largest savings bank, bore fruit.