Google, Pinterest, Innocent and Microsoft: Who has one of the 10 best office spaces to work worldwide in 2015 December 16, 2014 Do you think your office is top drawer or a bit of a dive? Knight Frank has compiled a list of what it claims to be the 10 best offices in the world – and three of them are in London. But are you in one of them? 10. Google Where: Central St Giles [...]
William Hague outlines English votes for English laws: Here’s what you need to know December 16, 2014 William Hague has outlined proposals for English votes for English laws (EVEL). Speaking to the House of Commons, Hague revealed his party's plans to put an end to the so-called West Lothian question that has divided opinion across the UK for decades. Under the current system Scottish MPs have the right to vote on issues [...]
Mark Carney: Stress test proves banks are “significantly more resilient” December 16, 2014 Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England (BoE), has said the results of today’s stress tests prove the new-found resilience at the core of the banking sector. Seven banks and Nationwide building society were tested, with only one, Co-operative Bank, failing. The test scenario was considered especially harsh and included two years of [...]
Peshawar school attack: More than 100 children dead in Taliban siege December 16, 2014 At least 126 people, including more than 100 children, have died and 122 have been wounded after a Taliban attack on a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar today. Hundreds of students at the Army Public School were taken hostage earlier today, with the Taliban – which is seeking to topple the government [...]
UK inflation falls to lowest rate since 2002 thanks to plumetting oil prices December 16, 2014 UK inflation fell to its lowest rate since 2002 in November after petrol costs were cut due to plummeting oil prices. The rate of consumer price growth fell to one per cent last month, the lowest rate for 12 years and down from a 1.3 per cent rate in October. Any hopes investors [...]
London Bridge is burning down? Tube station shut as emergency services deal with “small fire” December 16, 2014 London Bridge underground station has been shut while the London Fire Brigade deals with what is being called a “small fire”. The rail station is still open, but the underground station was evacuated this morning. The London Fire Brigade confirmed it was at the scene minutes ago. Witnesses took to social media to [...]
In charts: UK house price growth slows but first-time buyers still feel the pinch December 16, 2014 First-time buyers are paying 12 per cent more this year than at the same point last year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS revealed house prices were flirting with stagnation in October, when they increased just 0.1 per cent on a month-on-month basis. After yesterday’s data from Rightmove showed [...]
Oil prices: Brent crude falls below $60 a barrel December 16, 2014 Until recently the joke that was doing the rounds was that the rouble, the price of oil and President Putin would all reach 63 next year. Now just one of those is left waiting – and he's not likely to be in a celebratory mood. Oil prices have fallen to the lowest level in more [...]
Grocery deflation continues to tumble as Aldi and Lidl ramp up supermarket price war December 16, 2014 The supermarket sector has nudged back into growth after the surprise decline recorded last month. Figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel show that for the 12 weeks to December 7, the grocery market grew 0.1 per cent. The data company said this was down to “shoppers putting slightly more in their baskets compared with [...]
RBS to receive £1.1bn from US hedge fund Cerberus for Irish home loans portfolio December 16, 2014 Royal Bank of Scotland will raise £1.1bn from the sale of a portfolio of Irish real estate loans to hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management. The distressed assets generated losses equal to £800m for RBS in 2013, primarily due to impairment, and the lender now says it will use the sale proceeds for general corporate [...]