Investment banking boost helps Barclays despite £1.4bn PPI charge October 25, 2019 Barclays has confirmed a £1.4bn hit to its balance sheet following a rush of payment protection insurance (PPI) claims. The British bank also warned that a gloomy global economic outlook could make it harder to hit profit targets despite posting a double-digit rise in pre-tax profit for its third quarter today. Read more: Amazon shares [...]
Brexit latest: EU considers delay after Boris Johnson tables election vote October 25, 2019 The European Union will today discuss a new Brexit delay after Boris Johnson tabled a dramatic third attempt to secure a general election in a Commons vote expected on Monday. With only a week to go before the scheduled October 31st deadline, Johnson yesterday demanded a 12th December vote to break the paralysis gripping British [...]
New builds: Homes on the market in London this week, from a Battersea tower to a former camera factory October 25, 2019 Shoreditch Exchange, Shoreditch From £785,000 for a one-bed Two new show homes have just been launched at Regal London’s Shoreditch Exchange. Located on Hackney Road, the development includes 184 one, two and three-bed apartments with access to cinema rooms, a gym and roof terraces, as well as a WeWork office. The show homes, one of [...]
What are reservation agreements, and could they really stop gazumping? October 25, 2019 A sale falling out of bed at the eleventh hour is one of the biggest bugbears for those wanting to move home. But the government has now proposed a solution in the form of ‘reservation agreements’, which it now plans to trial early next year. Under this system, which is common in Europe, both buyers [...]
Why The Apprentice is actually really good for business October 25, 2019 Last week, Matt Clifford was lambasted by Lord Sugar on Twitter for his piece in City A.M. on why The Apprentice is bad for business. But having watched the past 15 series of the UK version of the show, there are many positives about the programme. The business world is constantly changing, but the fundamentals [...]
Property of the Week: This Regent’s Park mansion was the setting for a Victorian scandal October 25, 2019 Owning a neoclassical mansion in Regent’s Park would be quite nice in itself. Buy this former ambassadorial residence that has just come to the market on Cumberland Terrace, though, and you will also be able to retrace the steps of 19th century royalty, artists and high society. The grade I-listed, five-bedroom mansion was built in [...]
Focus on Victoria: Once just a train station, this central postcode now has an identity all its own October 25, 2019 There was a time not so long ago when Victoria was a train station, not an area. You could be ‘near Victoria station,’ but not ‘in Victoria’. Happily, it’s now made the transition thanks to an explosion of new bars, shops, offices and restaurants which have put the district firmly on the map. “For many [...]
Opinion: Uncertain times are leading to London property ‘microclimates’ October 25, 2019 The fluctuations and instability experienced by the capital’s housing market continue to be underpinned by, for want of a better phrase, ‘Brexit uncertainty’. A market once dictated by patterns and trends has been shaken by political turbulence, leaving buyers and sellers with little direction on how to navigate it, which is ultimately resulting in inconsistencies [...]
December may not turn out to be the Brexit election after all October 25, 2019 I was 14 when I voted in my first election. Not for real, of course, but in a school-wide mock poll to get us all engaged with politics back in 2005. Sixth-form students assumed the role of candidates (one for each party) and published simplified manifestos based on what the national parties had put forward. [...]
Time’s up: Ending the tyranny of clock-changing would make us a richer, happier nation October 25, 2019 It’s that time of year again where the government exerts its power over time itself. In the early hours of Sunday morning, British Summer Time (BST) will officially be no more, and the country will return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) until March. Alas – for it would make far more sense to stop changing [...]