Video: Watch Lloyd’s of London’s finest insurance talent tackle the building May 14, 2014 Anyone strolling past the famous Lloyd’s of London building today will have another reason to stop and stare other than Richard Rogers' shiny, inside-outy architecture. There are people coming down the side of the building. Lots of them. Why? Well it’s all in aid of RedR UK, a charity which provides training for disaster [...]
Carney wishes he could build houses May 14, 2014 The Bank of England governor showed his frustration at the housing market today, in an unusually open display of irritation at the demands placed on the institution. Prices are soaring in areas like London – some boroughs have seen prices rise by as much as 30 per cent in the last year – and [...]
What could shock the Bank of England into hiking rates this year? May 14, 2014 The Bank of England's latest inflation report is out today – it's largely a steady-as-she-goes update from Threadneedle Street, but nestled at the back the Bank presents a potential upset to their forecast, which could prompt a rate hike sooner than markets expect. The Bank’s outgoing deputy governor, Charles Bean, said that any estimate [...]
Why Mark Carney will be hoping his World Cup analogy isn’t too precise May 14, 2014 The Bank of England's governor has brought back an old favourite to the central bank's press conferences: sport analogies. Mark Carney has suggested that securing the UK's economic recovery so far has been "like making it through the qualifying rounds of the World Cup". A major achievement, but not the ultimate goal. The "real tournament" [...]
Netflix now more popular than iPlayer, 4OD and Amazon Prime Instant Video May 14, 2014 Netflix is now the second largest driver of online traffic in the UK and Ireland, just two years after it launched, and it now accounts for 17.8 per cent of traffic, according to new research. The television and movie streaming service is beaten only by YouTube’s 19.9 per cent share of traffic, according to Sandvine. [...]
Mike Ashley rumoured to be close to LA Fitness deal May 14, 2014 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has moved to take on around 30 LA fitness sites, Sky News' City editor, Mark Kleinman, reports. The exuberant billionaire has agreed to offer a parent company guarantee to LA Fitness landlords regarding leases on the gyms, according to sources. One did say, however, that, despite a deal being imminent, things [...]
Pfizer bosses face off with MPs for second day May 14, 2014 Bosses of US drugs giant Pfizer have faced a second grilling from MPs over the company's proposed takeover of Astrazeneca. The deal would result in the creation of the world's largest pharmaceutical company. Andrew Miller, chair of the Science and Technology select committee, kicked off proceedings by asking why Pfizer and Astrazeneca would be a [...]
Bank of England sees economy growing at 3.4pc this year May 14, 2014 The economists at Threadneedle Street have been busy. We've goth a host of update forecasts from the Bank of England, with the central bank suggesting that the UK economy is now performing strongly. The BoE sees 3.4 per cent GDP growth in 2014, and 2.9 per cent in 2015. In February, BoE forecasts suggseted that [...]
Pound hits 16-month high against euro on rumoured ECB rate cut package May 14, 2014 The European Central Bank (ECB) is working on a package of policies for its June meeting, which include cuts to all its interest rates and measures aimed at upping lending to small and medium-sized firms, Reuters reports. A rate cut in June is “more or less a done deal”, one of the news agency’s sources [...]
Real wage growth back for first time since 2010 May 14, 2014 Real wage growth is back, but it's weaker than we'd expected. Last month we saw some convincing signs of its return in the Office for National Statistics' volatile single month figures. This morning's Office for National Statistcs data confirms that early indicator, with average earnings up by 1.7 per cent in the three months to [...]