Sun, sea and Arabian Delights November 1, 2009 THERE are many parts of the world about which I am pessimistic but Dubai, despite its recent economic woes, is not one of them. Nobody else in the Middle East has pulled off what Dubai has achieved: a peaceful, capitalist, multi-ethnic state based on commerce, property, finance, entertainment and tourism. While it has been engulfed [...]
How comics can teach you to be a better communicator May 13, 2009 WHAT’S the difference between a pizza and a banker? Now, you might say that now is not the time for joking in the City, and indeed some might argue that the Square Mile already has more than its fair share of comedians. But I say that there are not enough. One of the keys for [...]
Buy-to-let is back as rents stabilise and low prices attract landlords December 3, 2009 BUY-TO-LET is starting to look like an attractive proposition once again, as lower house prices and a stabilising rental market result in more enticing yields. Data from LSL Property Services – the company that owns Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agencies – shows that annual returns on landlords’ investments have turned positive for the [...]
CITY CURRY LOVERS EMPTY THEIR POCKETS FOR UK WAR VETERANS May 14, 2009 NOSHING down on a good curry is one of the best ways to relieve City stress (just ask chancellor Alistair Darling, who famously thrashed out the details of his mammoth £500bn bank bailout plan over an Indian takeaway back in October). So it should come as no surprise that Lord Mayor Ian Luder decided to [...]
CITY CURRY LOVERS EMPTY THEIR POCKETS FOR UK WAR VETERANS May 14, 2009 NOSHING down on a good curry is one of the best ways to relieve City stress (just ask chancellor Alistair Darling, who famously thrashed out the details of his mammoth £500bn bank bailout plan over an Indian takeaway back in October). So it should come as no surprise that Lord Mayor Ian Luder decided to [...]
THEATRICAL LORD TURNER PROVES HIMSELF A NATURAL ON THE STAGE July 23, 2009 MY, OH my, but our Lord Turner isn’t half one to soak up the limelight. Commanding the stage at yesterday’s annual public meeting, the FSA’s chairman put a sweating, red-faced Hector Sants to shame under the lights as he fielded questions from the floor with panache, authoritatively pointing out the chosen ones like the best [...]
Impeccably sourced City sarnies June 8, 2009 FARM91 COWCROSS STREETEC1M 6BHTEL: 020 7253 2142 Cost per person without wine: £3-£8 IT’S hard to imagine a lunch enterprise that is more on message, on trend, on the pulse and on just about anything else you can think of. The Farm (not to be confused with the good restaurant and bar in Fulham, a [...]
Southwest is best for the ultimate seaside bolthole June 18, 2009 EARLIER this week, a beach in Cornwall came up for sale. On 13 July, the 76 acres of Gwithian beach will be sold by property consultant Colliers CRE in its Portman Square auction house, with the price expected to be in the region of £50,000. A bunch of dunes might not be your idea of [...]
Back to work but challenges of a tough economy remain September 1, 2008 For most of us, today marks the official close of the holiday season. This summer has not been as angst-free as in previous years, because of ongoing concerns over jobs and pay – and, for those in managerial positions, how to steer a course through choppy waters over the next year. My choice of holiday [...]
Allianz sells Dresdner in £8bn deal September 1, 2008 German insurance giant Allianz last night agreed to sell its beleaguered banking arm Dresdner to rival Commerzbank in a deal worth €9.8bn (£7.9bn) – a tie up that will lead to at least 1,000 job losses in the City. In what will be the biggest German banking merger in nearly a decade, Commerzbank will buy [...]