Huh? Rightmove offers real-time data technology as the battle of the property portals heats up December 18, 2014 As online property portals draw their battle lines in the fight for estate agent loyalty, something weird's going on. Rightmove has just offered the technical specifications for its real-time data feed to its rivals. For free. It might sound like a small thing, but in an industry where technology is moving fast, Rightmove's speedy listings [...]
Putin: Effects of the rouble crisis will “last two years under the most unfavourable circumstances” December 18, 2014 Buoyed, presumably, by the triumph of being named Russia’s man of the year for the 15th year in a row just hours ago, this morning Vladimir Putin climbed on to the podium to give a press conference to 1,300-odd journalists in what has become known as his answer to a “state of the nation address”. [...]
The UK’s “tiniest detached property” goes on sale for £100,000 December 18, 2014 Into minimalism? This might be the home for you. A home dubbed "Britain's smallest detached house" has gone on sale through local estate agent Haybrook in Sheffield, with a bargain price tag of £99,950. Built on the grounds of a mansion which has since been turned into flats, the Coach House in Brincliffe [...]
This £45m mansion could have just netted the government £5.3m in stamp duty December 18, 2014 A 19-bedroom Mayfair mansion that's just been sold with an asking price of £45m may have just made the government £5.3m. Seven Balfour Place from the outside The 13,000 sq ft mansion, on Balfour Place, also comes with seven reception rooms, six kitchens, 17 bathrooms and a roof terrace. The company in charge of selling [...]
Rouble relief as Russian government steps in December 17, 2014 Following days of losses, the rouble strengthened against the dollar this afternoon after Russia's central bank outlined a range of measures to boost the countrys ailing banking sector. Among the measures put forward, the bank said it planned to freeze the valuation of banks' securities portfolios at the previous quarter, abolish caps on the amount [...]
Nicola Horlick: What effects will the fall of oil prices actually have? December 17, 2014 The precipitous fall in the oil price has resulted in sharp declines in share prices around the world, but the long-term effect of a lower oil price is to reduce the amount of cash in the pockets of oil producers and increase the amount available to consumers to spend. Overall, this is positive for markets [...]
These are the top 25 most employable skills of 2014 (according to LinkedIn) December 17, 2014 What skills got people hired in 2014? LinkedIn has dug through its data for this year and found what gets employers salivating. Soft skills, these are not. The overarching theme is data – the top skill is statistical analysis and data mining. It crops up again at number 11, with data presentation, and then at [...]
News UK makes £3.5m loss – a year after £51m profit December 17, 2014 The figures News Corp UK, which owns The Sun, The Times and HarperCollins, made an operating loss of £3.5m in the year to June, results filed with Companies House show – down from a profit of £51m the year before. It isn't hard to discern why: firstly, it racked up £17.1m of legal costs. Secondly, [...]
UK unemployment sticks at its lowest level in six years as wage growth accelerates to 1.6 per cent December 17, 2014 Is this a Christmas miracle? After six years of decidedly lacklustre wage growth, the Office for National Statistics' final labour report of the year has shown wage growth is finally beginning to pick up some speed. According to the figures, published this morning, growth in wages excluding bonuses hit 1.6 per cent in the quarter [...]
Baidu confirms it’s buying a stake in Uber December 17, 2014 Internet giant Baidu – the Chinese equivalent of Google – has confirmed plans to buy a stake in Uber. The company hasn't disclosed the size of the stake, but it's likely Uber will use its newly-forged alliance to offer new features to passengers. Baidu has suggested its tie-up with Uber will "enable users of Baidu [...]
