Great Scotland Yard snapped up by Indian billionaire Yusuffali Kader’s Lulu Group for luxury hotel July 26, 2015 Indian billionaire Yusuffali Kader has snapped up the historic home of London's Metropolitan police and will turn Great Scotland Yard into a luxury hotel. Kader's Abu Dhabi headquartered Lulu Group has bought up the Edwardian building in Whitehall in a £110m deal with Galliard Homes, and will work with the Steigenberger Hotel Group to run the [...]
London house prices are being driven up by foreign criminals laundering money July 25, 2015 Foreign criminals who launder money through the purchase of high-end London properties are pushing up house prices, according to the National Crime Agency. "I believe the London property market has been skewed by laundered money," Donald Toon, the agency's director of economic crime command, told the Times. "Prices are being artificially driven up by overseas [...]
GDP data to show economy picked up in second quarter July 25, 2015 A preliminary estimate of gross domestic product released by the Office for National Statistics this week will likely show that second quarter economic growth picked up to 0.7 per cent, from 0.4 per cent at the start of this year. "We expect improved second quarter gross domestic product growth to have been primarily the consequence [...]
Uber’s getting sued again, and this time it’s in Canada July 24, 2015 The Canadian province of Ontario is the latest place where ride-sharing app Uber is being sued by disgruntled taxi drivers. Toronto taxi drivers have launched a class action suit seeking more than C$400m (£198m) in damages and an injunction to stop it operating. Law firm Sutts, Strosberg LLP, which is representing the taxi drivers, told Reuters [...]
Statistics can be used in many ways: The Office for National Statistics’ retail sales index is designed for everyone to understand July 24, 2015 What is important for one person isn't always the most important thing for someone else. This is why it's vital to offer different ways of looking at how things are changing in order to get the full picture. The ONS' retail sales index is one of the best indicators of the performance of the [...]
The Financial Times’ Britishness has made it global, and despite being bought by Japan’s Nikkei that’s not going anywhere July 24, 2015 Some will share the unease voiced by Will Hutton on BBC Newsnight that the Financial Times has passed into overseas ownership, especially in the scenario he painted where other media assets such as ITV and Channel 4 are targets for global players such as Comcast of the US. Having worked at the FT for [...]
Housing market starting to “hot up” as mortgage approvals soar to a 15-month high July 24, 2015 The housing market is beginning to heat up again as mortgage approvals rose for the sixth consecutive month in June, taking them to a 15-month high. Figures released today by the British Bankers Association showed the number of mortgage approvals rose to 44,488 last month, from 42,876 in May. Remortgaging rose 20 per cent in the [...]
Lonmin share price plummets alsmost 14 per cent as it announces 3,000 job cuts July 24, 2015 Shares in troubled platinum miner Lonmin plummeted 13.9 per cent to 68.95p in late morning trading after it announced plans to close two of its mine shafts, putting 6,000 jobs at risk. Read more: Why commodities' latest price slump complicates the backdrop for interest rate hikes In an update to the stock exchange this morning, the [...]
Interest rate rise by the Bank of England is the “greatest risk” to house prices July 24, 2015 House price growth for this year is on track to hit double-digit figures in a number of cities across Britain – providing the Bank of England doesn't hike interest rates anytime soon. House prices in the 20 cities monitored by Hometrack's cities house price index rose 6.3 per cent in the first half of 2015, and look set [...]
Pearson posts £115m loss a day after sale of FT to Nikkei July 24, 2015 A day after it sold the FT to Japanese rival Nikkei for £884m, publishing giant Pearson has posted a loss of £115m in the six months to the end of June. The figures Pearson, which after yesterday's sell-off of its flagship newspaper title will focus largely on educational publishing, said losses before tax hit £115m [...]