Michael Fallon welcomed as new minister for Portsmouth by local MP January 16, 2014 Business minister Michael Fallon has been announced as the new minister for Portsmouth, prompting calls from other towns and regions across the UK for their own dedicated member of the government. Fallon’s role will see him visit the area and work to lessen the impact of a recent decision by BAE Systems to close a [...]
Boris let loose on London in a green cab January 16, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) Boris Johnson took a spin in a new, green black cab this lunchtime as he announced plans to force new taxis to operate with zero-emissions by 2018. The mayor of London, who has admitted in the past that his driving skills are awful (see the video below), took the white Metrocab for [...]
How Goldman Sachs led one man to breakdancing glory January 16, 2014 B-boy Silverback. That's the breaking name of Steve Graham – a 55-year old private equity exec who learnt his dancing skills while an analyst Goldman Sachs in the early 1980s. Graham, who runs Philadelphia-based Graham Partners, was originally known as "Vanilla Shake", in days that preceded the advent of Vanilla Ice, reports Business Insider. Back [...]
Warnings that London property is over-priced as investors battle for assets January 16, 2014 The war is on to get hold of the best property assets in London and for many investors that means moving up the risk curve and taking on more development projects than before, according to research by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. The survey of 500 property professionals revealed that 71 per cent of [...]
Tata Europe boss calls on the government to slash energy bills January 16, 2014 Steel boss Karl Koehler has called on the government to slash energy bills. The CEO of Tata Steel Europe said that heavy industries need help to deal with rapidly rising costs. Speaking at a conference in London, Mr Koehler argued that revitalising these sectors could play a major part in rebalancing of the UK economy. [...]
US inflation jumps to six-month high January 16, 2014 US inflation jumped, as expected, to 1.5 per cent in December year-on-year – the highest it's been since June – from 1.2 per cent in November 2012 to November 2013. Item prices increased across the board, although they remained modest, with the jump attributed to a temporary rise in energy over the month. This is [...]
The US jobs market is steadily improving, again January 16, 2014 Some good news in the US. Initial jobless claims have dropped/risen from 330,000 last week to 326,000 in the week to 10 January. We got a slightly stronger number than that analysts had been expecting – consensus estimates suggested a fall to 328,000. The general improvements in the US labour market are starting to get [...]
Why is Luxembourg being so mean to this German teddy company? January 16, 2014 A European court showed no signs of going soft on German teddy bear maker Steiff when it ruled against its trademark application this morning. The 134-year old company had hoped to win a trademark for a button, or a label attached by means of a button, to the middle of the ear [...]
Former US defence secretary Gates weighs in on UK cuts January 16, 2014 The Ministry of Defence is not having the best week. Following on from a damning report from the Commons defence committee and exposure of an IT fiasco, now former US defence secretary Robert Gates has stuck his oar in. Gates, who served under presidents Obama and Bush, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that cuts [...]
Why you shouldn’t trust oil price predictions in 1 chart January 16, 2014 City forecasters are well paid for their advice – colleagues and clients rely on their predictions and make big bets and investment decisions on their word. But this shocking chart from the European Central Bank shows how wrong the forecasters are, pretty much all the time. The light dotted line shows the oil price which [...]