Topps Tiles gets boost from UK housing market January 7, 2014 TILING specialist Topps Tiles posted upbeat figures yesterday in a further sign that a rising housing market is having a positive effect on spending. Topps Tiles, which has 328 stores across the country, said like-for-like sales jumped by 9.3 per cent in its first quarter to 28 December, boosting shares by 2.9 per cent yesterday. [...]
Bottom Line: Developers vie to see how high they can go January 7, 2014 UNTIL World War II, St Paul’s – which stands just 111m high – was the tallest building in London. Despite height restrictions in the capital being lifted in 1956 it wasn’t until the late seventies that London got its first true skyscraper, when Tower 42 sprung up – looming a full 183m above Old Broad [...]
Physical retailers see no boon from seasonal card spending January 7, 2014 CARD spending in brick-and-mortar shops over the last year dropped, despite the onset of an early economy recovery. Data from credit and debit cards released by Visa Europe yesterday suggest that while spending at physical retail stores dropped by 1.9 per cent between December 2012 and last month, despite a 6.8 per cent bump in [...]
The Original Bowling Company scores perfect Christmas game January 7, 2014 BRITONS celebrated over the Christmas holidays by putting on their bowling shoes, according to the Original Bowling Company, which posted strong results over the festive period. The company, which runs 44 bowling centres known as AMF and Hollywood Bowl, said like-for-like sales in the five weeks to 5 January were up 8.4 per cent on [...]
Deflation grips shops through Christmas sales January 7, 2014 SHOP prices dropped at the fastest pace for at least seven years this Christmas, as retailers struggled to capitalise on 2013’s increasing consumer confidence. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen, shop prices slipped by 0.8 per cent during December, driven by a 2.3 per cent drop in non-food prices. Retailers have now [...]
Property market prices and rents to keep rising in 2014 January 7, 2014 HIGHER demand and a dearth in supply will continue to fuel rising prices and rents in the commercial and residential markets in 2014, according to the latest research by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The property group predicts London prices will jump eight per cent this year, albeit a slight slowdown on last year’s 11 per [...]
Rates fall again for UK’s savers and borrowers January 7, 2014 MARKET interest rates are still falling five years after the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.5 per cent, official data and Goldman Sachs research showed yesterday. Mortgage interest rates on new loans now average around 2.75 per cent, Goldman analysts said. The rates have fallen by more than one percentage point in the [...]
Ashmore wins China investment licence in first for a western firm January 7, 2014 LONDON’S push to become a leading foreign centre for yuan trade took a step forward yesterday after Ashmore became the first western asset manager to secure a licence to invest directly in China’s capital markets. China’s cautious embrace of international cash resulted in a coup for Britain last October, when London became the sole non-Asian [...]
Fed’s Rosengren gets on board with US plans to taper stimulus January 7, 2014 THE LONE US Federal Reserve official to dissent against the Fed’s decision last month to cut stimulus said yesterday he is nonetheless comfortable with the current approach of reducing bond-buying by $10bn (£6.08bn) increments at each policy meeting. In an interview, Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren warned against any “dramatic steps” to wind down the [...]
RBS sells chunk of Charter One ahead of exit from US banking January 7, 2014 RBS QUIT retail banking in and around Chicago yesterday, selling 94 Charter One branches to US Bancorp. The British lender is planning a wider exit from the US, aiming to float its American bank Citizens, which includes Charter One, later this year. It bought into Charter One a decade ago, and is now partly reversing that [...]