London Barometer January 30, 2014 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS & GORDON As EXPECTED, December was much busier than usual; 50 per cent more properties came onto the market, 20 per cent more buyers registered and almost 40 per cent more offers were received. Vendors who heeded our advice and took advantage of the December market did well as a result. Based [...]
Chuka’s convinced he’s not “bling” and thinks he has the solution to PMQs chaos January 30, 2014 Chuka Umunna joked his way through the monthly press gallery lunch in Westminster today, opening by telling journalists that he couldn’t possibly be “bling” because he cuts his own hair. The Shadow Business Secretary managed to navigate an hour or so of speech and questions without a serious stumble, though the relief on his face [...]
3i takes £14m write-down on Hobbs January 30, 2014 Private equity firm 3i denied reports today that it is looking to sell Hobbs after taking a huge write-down in the value of its investment in the fashion group, blaming poor sales over Christmas. The company, which bought Hobbs in 2004 from Barclays Private Equity for £111m, said it was forced to write down the [...]
The market’s already come up with something that makes Nick Clegg’s electric car plan totally irrelevant January 30, 2014 Nick Clegg’s on a drive to make Britain the world leader in electric cars. Today, he announced that the government will invest more than £9m to up the number of charging points across the country. The government’s partnered up with major car manufacturers who are backing the suspectly-named Go Ultra Low campaign – which they [...]
Visa takes a swipe at Bitcoin January 30, 2014 The world's largest processor of credit card payments has taken a swipe at the insurgent cyptocurrency Bitcoin. Speaking on a conference call discussing quarterly results, Visa's chief executive officer Charles Scharf said that current payment networks were a safer option than Bitcoin: The established network rules we have, the understanding of how things operate, understanding [...]
Savers are getting crushed – despite rising mortgage rates January 30, 2014 Mortgage interest rates are going up – but Britain’s savers are being crushed again by plunging rates on their accounts. This is not the recovery you wanted if you thought you were doing the right thing by saving up for the future. The justification for loose monetary policy has always been that low interest rates [...]
UK to miss out on shale gas revolution says IEA economist January 30, 2014 Shale gas will not herald an energy revolution in the UK in the same way it has in the US, according to chief economist and director of global energy economics at the International Energy Agency (IEA). In remarks that may temper the enthusiasm of shale gas supporters, Fatih Birol told the Daily Telegraph: The UK [...]
In 3 charts: The UK jobs recovery has a dark side January 30, 2014 Despite a recent and rapid drop in the UK’s unemployment rate, an international comparison by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today recalls the dismal aspects of the UK labour market. The recent drop in unemployment for the UK is certainly impressive, especially in comparison to stubbornly high Eurozone unemployment rates. British unemployment plunged from [...]
US growth drops to 3.2 per cent in fourth quarter January 30, 2014 Huge US data release today. The big number is the fourth quarter GDP growth stat, down from 4.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent, on an annualised basis. That's bang in line with the consensus forecast. Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, says that the broad picture is one of diminishing fiscal drag, [...]
German inflation eases on lower energy prices in January January 30, 2014 German inflation rose to 1.3 per cent in January from a year earlier. Economist had expected a rise to 1.5 per cent from 1.4 per cent in November. Month-on-month, the consumer price index decreased 0.6 per cent. Estimates were for a 0.4 per cent fall after November’s 0.4 per cent increase. The relatively low rate [...]