The mortgage market is helping to fuel a new credit boom March 31, 2016 Lending in the UK is recovering strongly. The annual growth rate of total lending hit 4.8 per cent in February, according to figures released by the Bank of England this morning. It is the highest growth rate since 2009 when lending was plummeting. Here's what is helping to drive it: Mortgage lending Borrowing is bouncing back in [...]
Bank of Cyprus could become a FTSE 250 company as it seeks London Stock Exchange listing in the second half of 2016 March 31, 2016 The Bank of Cyprus is planning to move its primary stock market listing to London in the second half of 2016, the bank has announced, following months of rumours it was mulling a move. The business, led by former RBS banker John Hourican, plans to ditch its listing on the Athens stock exchange but will maintain [...]
London 2012 Olympics Aquatics Centre architect Dame Zaha Hadid dies aged 65 March 31, 2016 One of the UK's leading architects, Dame Zaha Hadid, has died aged 65. Today Zaha Hadid Architects said Hadid, who is best known for work including the London 2012 Aquatics Centre and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, died suddenly while being treated in hospital in Miami in the early hours of the morning, after contracting bronchitis earlier this [...]
Stress: Uncertainty can cause us more stress than inevitable pain can, according to new UCL study March 31, 2016 If you thought knowing about impending doom before it happened would be stressful it turns out there's one thing that could be even worse: the uncertainty of not quite knowing. Scientists from UCL found that uncertainty was more stressful than knowing something bad was definitely going to happen in a new study published in the journal Nature [...]
Steel crisis: Government urged to spend £400m on UK steel workers to support towns and families March 31, 2016 The government is facing calls to spend up to £400m to support the families and towns of steelworkers hit by Indian steel giant Tata's plans to sell its UK operations. The government has been under pressure to act since Tata announced the decision that it would be putting its UK operations up for sale early on Tuesday morning. Earlier today Prime [...]
Jefferies downgrades William Hill from “hold” to “underperform” after 2016 profit warning last week March 31, 2016 Investment bank Jefferies has downgraded bookmaker William Hill from "hold" to "underperform" and slashed its share price target following the company's profit warning last week. Jefferies' target price has dropped to 280p from 380p after the bookie warned its online profits would fall by £25m in 2016, as digital performance was hit by tightened regulations and [...]
Shades on: London’s about to get warm and sunny as spring finally gets sprung March 31, 2016 No, you're not imagining it. Having been rained, hailed and possibly even snowed on during the Easter bank holiday weekend thanks to Storm Katie, London is about to get hot. Temperatures in the capital are on the rise from now until early next week, the Met Office has forecast. Today has got us off to a [...]
GE Capital and AIG jump on too small to be too big to fail bandwagon after MetLife win March 31, 2016 GE Capital has petitioned the US regulator to remove it from the list of financial institutions that are deemed too big to fail following a judge ruling in MetLife's favour yesterday. GE claims that reducing its balance sheet by half and scaling back its links to other firms mean it should no longer qualify for the tag [...]
Why building your dream home is about to become easier March 31, 2016 Fans of Channel Four’s Grand Designs who dream of creating a home from scratch will be one step closer to doing so tomorrow when a new laws encouraging self-build and custom housebuilding come into force. From 1 April, councils in England will have to keep a register of everyone seeking land to build their own home or [...]