Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive had fun with Lily Allen and Daisy Lowe at Sushi Samba anniversary party November 11, 2014 Apple’s notoriously quiet design chief Sir Jony Ive may have only been back in the UK for a few days, but he took time to rub shoulders with the likes of Lily Allen and Daisy Lowe at Sushi Samba’s second anniversary party last night. Ive and PR guru Matthew Freud propped up the bar [...]
KPMG’s Matt Wood has the eye for ING’s art November 11, 2014 Director of operations for KPMG (Restaurant Associates), Matt Wood (right) enjoyed last night’s preview of the 2014 ING Discerning Eye exhibition – and thanks to City A.M.’s competition, he walked away with one of the pieces. Here he is with ING’s chief of commercial banking Gerald Walker and his new piece of art, Wet Morning [...]
Report: UK needs 300,000 new homes each year but red tape prevents house building November 11, 2014 Red tape is preventing house builders from matching growing demand, a new report says today. An extra 50,000 new homes a year are being prevented by rules and regulations, according to the paper published by think tank Policy Exchange. Last year, just 112,000 homes were built and the average over the past 10 years has [...]
UK house prices: Country homes more expensive on average than urban abodes November 11, 2014 Homes in the countryside are commanding a substantial premium over their urban counterparts. Buyers pay average premium of £46,000 – or 26 per cent – for homes in rural areas, according figures released today by Halifax, one of the UK’s top mortgage providers. However, prices in urban areas are catching up after rising faster over [...]
Slow spending growth could hit economy November 11, 2014 THE UK’S strong recovery is at risk of slowing due to weaker growth in consumer spending, consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said today. For the past two years, an increase in consumer spending has been fuelled by strong employment growth, raised income tax personal allowances, and low mortgage interest rates. Another boost to consumer spending has [...]
Taylor Swift’s withdrawal signals trouble for Spotify – Brand Index November 11, 2014 To the dismay of fans the world over, in the last week Taylor Swift decided to remove all her songs and albums from the music streaming service Spotify. But what does this say about the future of the service, the way we engage with music, and the industry itself? The numbers leave us in no [...]
Land Securities buoyed by rush for office space November 11, 2014 LAND Securities posted a better-than-expected leap in the value of its portfolio in the first half of the year, thanks to strong demand from companies keen to take up space in its buildings. The FTSE 100 landlord behind the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City said like-for-like rents jumped 2.2 per cent in the six [...]
Taylor Wimpey bumps up profit forecast despite cooling market November 11, 2014 TAYLOR Wimpey yesterday upgraded its full-year profit margin forecast, thanks to a rise in sales, even as the effects of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme launched last year began to fade. Chief executive Pete Redfern said housing market conditions “moderated, but remained positive” over the summer, echoing comments made by other builders of the cooling conditions. [...]
Hyundai’s land purchase woes spark buyback November 11, 2014 HYUNDAI and its affiliate Kia Motors yesterday announced they would buy back a combined 670bn won (£383m) of shares, marking the South Korean auto makers’ latest efforts to appease investors angered by the company buying property at three times it value. Hyundai said it would buy back 449bn won of common and preferred shares, while [...]
Drinks giant Diageo drops KPMG for PwC as new rules come in November 11, 2014 Diageo announced yesterday that it had replaced its auditor KPMG with rival PwC, to bring it in line with new regulations compelling companies to consider changing their accountants every decade. The alcoholic drinks giant – which produces Guinness – said PwC’s appointment would take effect for Diageo’s financial year ending 30 June 2016, subject to [...]