Here’s how important video games are to the UK’s economy August 17, 2016 Video gamers might look like they're slumping in front of the telly, prodding at buttons in a zombie-like fashion – but it turns out they're just doing their bit for the economy. That's according to figures from UK games industry body Tiga, anyway, which has found the UK's video games sector grew to record levels in [...]
Theresa May has penned a personal letter to the Chinese president in a bid to steady relations with Beijing August 17, 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May has written to Chinese President Xi Jinping to reassure him of the UK's commitment to ties with Beijing ahead of her visit to China next month. May will travel to China for the G20 leader summit in Hangzhou early next month, and has taken steps to ease concerns in Beijing after [...]
Advisers and accountants could pay fines in excess of earned fees in new proposed crackdown on tax avoidance August 17, 2016 Financial advisers and accountants who help enable tax avoidance are to be targeted and heavily fined, under new proposals. Under the Treasury proposals, those advisers and accountants who help tax avoidance, or even devise the schemes, could be fined up to 100 per cent of the tax avoided. Tax avoidance is legal and is where you [...]
Houses in the West End are still selling like hotcakes, says CBRE August 17, 2016 Home sales have remained "strong" for CBRE after Brexit, with the company reporting it has exchanged on nearly £60m worth of residential property in the second quarter of this year. The transaction value achieved by CBRE was its second highest for the last four years. Read more: Here's everything that's happened to house prices since the Brexit vote Three [...]
Defence giant Cobham appoints new chief executive August 17, 2016 British aerospace and defence company Cobham has announced that its chief executive Bob Murphy is stepping down at the end of the year, to be replaced by the current chief exec of Laird. The company's share price rose by 2.87 per cent in late morning trading on the news. Murphy is stepping down to "pursue [...]
Balfour Beatty reinstates dividend as turnaround plan bears fruit and cuts losses by 86 per cent August 17, 2016 Balfour Beatty has hugely cut its losses under new chief executive Leo Quinn's turnaround plan, it said today. The company's share price jumped over five per cent in early morning trade on the news. The figures Balfour Beatty reported underlying revenue marginally down to £4.02bn, from £4.09bn in the first half of the year. Total revenue [...]
Farm land prices expected to fall as demand falters due to uncertainty August 17, 2016 Demand for rural land has fallen over the last six months – and prices are expected to follow suit. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 49 per cent of members expect prices for farm land to fall over the next few months. Read more: Everything that's happened to house prices since the Brexit [...]
City Moves for 17 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 17, 2016 Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has appointed Stewart Eaton as head of product recall for regional unit London. As an experienced product recall underwriter, he joins AGCS’ crisis management team to manage the product recall book. He will report to Tim Galloway, AGCS regional head of liability. Eaton joins from Castel [...]
Children heading off to University next month? They could be spending half of their student loan in the first 100 days August 17, 2016 Parents whose children are preparing to head off to university may be surprised to hear that students spend an average of £3,304 during the first 100 days of their studies. Nearly one in five students frittered away their entire student loan during this period and a quarter resorted to borrowing money before the end of the [...]
Rough & the smooth: Sadiq Khan’s first 100 days as mayor of London August 17, 2016 London mayor Sadiq Khan has celebrated his first 100 days in City Hall. So, how’s his mayoralty shaping up? Khan was elected on 5 May, after his rival Zac Goldsmith sank in a pit of his campaign’s own making. The Tory candidate would probably have made a perfectly decent and thoughtful mayor, but his campaign [...]