Tuesday newspaper round-up: Hiring, leaseholds, energy costs, Global Blue

The booming jobs market shows no signs of abating, according to figures from recruitment agencies that show the fastest rise in jobs placements for more than two years. Companies shrugged off Brexit uncertainty to increase their permanent staff headcount last month at the quickest pace since April 2015, while temporary hires rose at the fastest rate in almost two and half years. - The Times

Hopes of a breakthrough for householders trapped in the leasehold scandal are rising after a major developer agreed to buy back some freeholds and axe ground rent clauses. Countryside Properties, which sold some of the freeholds on its houses to the ground rent company E&J Estates, has agreed to buy a number of them back with a view to releasing homeowners from clauses where ground rents double every 10 years. - Guardian

British judges will be able to block extradition requests by EU nations after Brexit under Government plans to avoid a rebellion by eurosceptic Tory back-benchers. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, has said that the Supreme Court will act as the final body of appeal for British citizens facing extradition under the European Arrest Warrant instead of EU courts. - Telegraph

Pro-EU campaigners are planning to stage one of their biggest “stop Brexit” marches outside the Conservative party conference this autumn. Campaigners said their aim was to make the party “face up to the reality of Brexit” when they march to the conference centre to make sure their voices are heard by delegates inside. - Guardian

Parents should encourage their children to spend more time online to improve their cyber skills and 'save the country', the former head of GCHQ declares today. Rather than allowing youngsters to 'mooch around on the streets' during the holidays, it is families' patriotic duty to encourage more screen time, according to Robert Hannigan, the former head of the Government’s electronic spy agency as he warned that Britain is struggling to keep pace with its digital rivals. - Telegraph

Companies will no longer be able to pay employees their salaries in gold bullion in the first use of a new law designed to combat “morally repugnant” tax avoidance schemes. An expert tax avoidance panel has ruled that paying employees in gold is a “contrived” tax avoidance scheme designed to “frustrate the intent of parliament” in cracking down on such practices. -Guardian

The Oxford academic who will conduct a wide-ranging independent review of Britain’s energy costs will spend only 30 days on the project. Dieter Helm has been given until the end of October to advise the government on how it can keep electricity costs as low as possible while hitting climate targets and ensuring security of supply. Ministers said that the economist would consider “the whole electricity supply chain — generation, transmission, distribution and supply”. - The Times

Global Blue, the tax refund payment firm, is paving the way for a €4bn (£3.6bn) flotation at the turn of the year, possibly in London. No location has yet been chosen for the initial public offering, although it will be a European stock exchange and not in Asia or New York, with the float looking set to take place in early 2018. - Telegraph

A booming City and rising house prices provided a double boost to Britons holding assets in 2016 as they pushed the nation’s wealth through the £10tn mark, according to a new survey. Lloyds Bank’s private banking arm said total household wealth in the UK increased by £892bn last year – with the property and financial markets each responsible for half the rise. - Guardian

The Government has given the green light to a major offshore wind farm which could prove to be the cheapest yet in UK waters. Greg Clark, the Business and Energy Secretary, granted ScottishPower planning permission to build the second phase of its East Anglia wind farm 42 miles off the coast of Norfolk using wind turbines more than two and a half times the height of London’s Big Ben. - Telegraph

It might take more than an hour to download your favourite blockbuster, but things could be worse: Britain is 31st in the global race for fast broadband. Internet users in Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria enjoy quicker speeds than in the United Kingdom, according to research, but networks in France, Italy and Australia lag further behind. - The Times

One of Monitise's largest shareholders has warned the UK-listed company is being "sold down the river" after US suitor Fiserv upped its offer by just £5m. The financial technology business has lifted its original bid for Monitise from 2.9p to 3.1p per share in an attempt to appease investors at Cavendish Asset Management, which owns around 5pc of the struggling payments firm. - Telegraph