Steady as she goes from Spreadsheet Phil November 24, 2016 It can't have been easy for George Osborne to watch his successor abolish one of the former chancellor’s favourite political devices. Philip Hammond ended his sober assessment of the public finances yesterday by declaring that the Autumn Statement will be no more. “No other economy makes hundreds of tax changes twice a year, and neither should [...]
Travel website Skyscanner bought by Chinese firm Ctrip in £1.4bn deal November 24, 2016 The UK travel comparison site Skyscanner has been bought up by Ctrip, China's largest online travel business. The deal values Skyscanner at around £1.4bn. The travel website, which is based in Edinburgh, said it would keep the same management team and would be run independently within the Ctrip group. What does this mean for UK [...]
City Moves for 24 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 24, 2016 AEW AEW has appointed Hans Vrensen as European head of research and strategy. Hans, who will be based in London and oversee teams in London and Paris, will report to Rob Wilkinson, CEO of AEW Europe and will work closely with AEW’s global platform. Hans’ responsibilities at AEW will include advising the investment and asset management [...]
Bletchley Park to house the UK’s next generation of cyber talent November 24, 2016 Renowned World War II codebreaking site Bletchley Park is going to play host to the next generation of the UK’s cyber experts. Under plans announced today the site is to be refurbished as country’s first National College of Cyber Security, with the first cohort of 16-19-year-olds expected from September 2018. The free-to-attend school will take on [...]
Sadiq’s controversial Night Tsar has issued an apology to six London Tory councils November 23, 2016 Sadiq Khan’s controversial new Night Tsar has apologised for a back-catalogue of offensive tweets in a bid to build bridges with Conservative-controlled London boroughs. Amy Lame’s appointment has been mired in criticism since it was announced in early November. In particular, questions have been raised over Lame using Twitter to brand Scottish Tory leader Ruth [...]
China logged a record one million patent applications last year ahead of the United States November 23, 2016 China has become the first country to file one million patent applications in a single year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Chinese innovators filed the majority of their 2015 applications in electric engineering, including telecoms, followed by computer technology and semiconductors, and measurement instruments including medical technology. "The figures for China are [...]
Philip Hammond has gifted Britain a third decade of gross fiscal irresponsibility November 23, 2016 If it ever truly began, it really does look like the era of austerity is over. After the savage cuts of George Osborne’s days, when current spending was slashed by an eye watering 0.2 per cent, Philip Hammond has decided enough is enough. The borrowing forecasts from yesterday’s Autumn Statement were diabolical. A surplus is now not [...]
Dishonored 2: This first-person assassin game by Arkane is a glorious steampunk wonderland November 23, 2016 Dishonored 2 feels reassuringly familiar. The action may have shifted from plague-ridden, Dickensian squalor to sun-baked, equatorial squalor, but the constituent parts remain: it looks the same, it plays the same, it almost smells the same. Thank goodness, because Dishonored is at the very apex of video-game design, dense and textured, beautiful despite the muck [...]
The chancellor’s new investments should boost productivity – but the next few years are going to be tough November 23, 2016 Philip Hammond kept the nation in suspense as to the new government’s priorities for the economy until the Autumn Statement, and generally it was worth the wait. The chancellor proved a bigger spender, focusing on one of the fundamental challenges facing the UK economy beyond Brexit – productivity. If the UK is to forge a [...]
Fed officials said rate hike needs to happen in December “to preserve credibility” November 23, 2016 Some Federal Reserve officials said a rate rise needs to happen next month "to preserve credibility", according to minutes of their November meeting released today. They said an interest rate increase was incoming "relatively soon", if incoming data continued to reflect an improving economy, with some explicitly calling for a move next month. Some participants, a [...]