Ukraine President signs anti-protest legislation repeal January 31, 2014 The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, has signed a law repealing the anti-protest legislation that was passed earlier this month. On Tuesday, the country’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to annul the legislation, which banned protesters from wearing helmets and blockading public buildings. Passed less than two weeks ago, it has exacerbated ongoing protests against Ukraine’s government.
House of Fraser pigeon falls fowl in Jack Wills logo ruling January 31, 2014 News of an avian-related logo infringement has come to light this morning. The High Court has just ruled that House of Fraser’s use of a logo on its branded clothes has infringed on Jack Wills’ famous pheasant logo, known as "Mr Wills". The pigeon logo stepped on the toes of Mr Wills, with the judge [...]
Barnet council green lights £4bn Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration January 31, 2014 Hammerson and Standard Life Investments have been given the go-ahead from Barnet council for the £4bn regeneration of Brent Cross Cricklewood. The project includes plans to construct 7,500 homes, new offices, four parks, transport improvements and an extension of Brent Cross Shopping Centre. Detailed designs for the project will be produced during 2014. Mike McGuinness, [...]
Is the Eurozone out of the woods when it comes to unemployment? January 31, 2014 The Eurozone’s unemployment rate fell to 12.0 per cent in December – the same as it was in November (which was revised down from 12.1 per cent). The fall was the largest since April 2007 – down by 129,000. The figures, says Christian Schulz of Berenberg, show the labour market is now past the worse. [...]
Regulator hits State Street with £22.9m fine January 31, 2014 The Financial Conduct Authority has fined State Street £22,885,000 for "a deliberate strategy to charge clients substantial mark-ups on certain transitions, in addition to the agreed management fee or commission" by the bank's Transitions Management business. Those mark-ups had not been agreed by clients, and were concealed from them, said the FCA. Tracey McDermott, director [...]
London home registrations at highest point since records began January 31, 2014 2013 saw the number of homes registered in London boom to the highest level since electronic records began 26 years ago, according to the National House Building Council (NHBC). Last year, the number of new homes registered in London rose to 26,230 an increase of 60 per cent on the previous year. However, growth in [...]
Britain’s record real wage crisis explained January 31, 2014 Inflation has been outstripping wage growth consistently since 2010, meaning that in real terms wages have been falling since then. It's the longest period since such records began in 1964, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as inflation measured by the Retail Price Index remains stubbornly above average weekly earnings growth. The ONS identifies [...]
Sale of £17.6m site sees Dairy Crest hopeful of future profits January 31, 2014 Dairy Crest, one of Britain's biggest milk producers, has announced the sale of the Nine Elms residential and middle-ground milk depot for £17.6m in a move that will boost the company's profits above expectations. The company anticipates sales from properties to total around £18m in 2014, close to double the previous expectations of £10m. The [...]
The power of monetary policy in 4 charts January 31, 2014 The monetary policy responses of Japan and the Eurozone to weak inflation couldn't be more different. Deflation risks At a dovish extreme, you have the Bank of Japan respondingly aggressively to deflation. 2013 saw newly installed central banker Haruhiko Kuroda steer the economy from deflation to inflation in excess of one per cent. While the [...]
Online holiday deals given helping hand from regulator January 31, 2014 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it’s accepted commitments from Booking.com, Expedia and InterContinental Hotels (IHG) to relax rate restrictions on hotel rooms. The agreement "clears the way" for hotels and online travel agents (OTAs) to offer discounts on rooms, the OFT said. The commitments mean that all OTAs and hotels that deal [...]