Libor manipulation scandal is a disastrous own goal for City June 28, 2012 WHAT preposterous emails. What were these traders thinking? That they would get away with it? Barclays and the entire banking industry have been badly damaged by the Libor manipulation scandal – and this time it is entirely a crisis of their own making. This is not like some previous rounds of banker-bashing, where lenders were [...]
Falling tax receipts show that we’ve forgotten Laffer’s lesson June 27, 2012 SOMETHING very worrying is happening to the UK’s public finances. Income tax and capital gains tax receipts fell by 7.3 per cent in May compared with a year ago, according to official figures. Over the first two months of the fiscal year, they are down by 0.5 per cent. This is merely the confirmation of [...]
Inflation falls at last – but the damage has already been done June 20, 2012 AT last, Britain’s inflation problem is abating. Prices are still increasing too quickly – inflation remains at 3.1 per cent on the retail price index and 2.8 per cent on the consumer price index, painful as wages are growing far less quickly. But the direction of travel is reassuring. The Bank of England – by [...]
CELEBRATE THE CITY four days in the Square Mile 21-24 JUNE June 17, 2012 WHO knew there could be so much to explore and enjoy in one Square Mile? This week – as the Spitalfields Festival comes to a close and the 50th anniversary of the City of London Festival begins – City buildings throw open their doors to give you the chance to encounter breath-taking interiors and unrivalled [...]
Start your weekend with a bang this Thursday evening at 6pm June 17, 2012 How do you celebrate something as multifaceted as the City of London? It is a place of contradictions: both a glass-fronted metropolis and a cluster of stone relics, stubborn and robust. It throngs with people of all nationalities and hums with activity that is at once local and global. Crammed into a single square mile [...]
Four days of open doors and hidden treasures June 17, 2012 WALKING around at street level, you only glimpse a fraction of the City. For the most part, it operates and exists behind closed doors and, at close to 2,000 years old, it has its fair share of stories and secrets tucked away. “There is an enormous amount going on under the radar in the City [...]
Champagne sunset Friday night at Tower Bridge June 17, 2012 THE CITY is magical at night,” says Stella Ioannou, Project Director of Celebrate the City. She’s right, of course. The London skyline is among the most recognisable anywhere in the world and its finest rooftops and spires – from the dome of St Paul’s to the tip of the Gherkin – are clustered in and [...]
Bring the family to the Cheapside Fayre on Saturday June 17, 2012 WHEN people talk of cities as playgrounds, they tend not to be thinking about swings and roundabouts, but bars, restaurants and the like. It’s not exactly child-friendly. However, families are at the heart of Celebrate the City and a significant proportion of the festival programme has been built with them in mind. “When it comes [...]
Recipe for success is a special blend June 17, 2012 Q Three years in the City – how has it been? A Considering we opened High Timber just as the recession kicked in, overall it has been fabulous. There are so many big characters in the City; the restaurant always seems to have a buzzing and fun atmosphere. Q What’s been great and what’s been [...]
Shopping in style at the City’s 10 best June 17, 2012 Paul A Young, Bank 1 London’s most delectable chocolatier has shops in Islington and Soho, but our favourite is the outpost on Threadneedle Street. Just a stone’s throw from Bank, the store is a beacon of temptation, with its opulent display window and signature purple exterior. Paul, who has flame-red hair, oversees an operation in [...]