FTSE reshuffle: Travis Perkins, DFS and Countrywide are on the way out November 29, 2016 Cheap sofas, estate agents and building materials are no longer flavour of the month, it seems – with some of the UK's largest blue-chips eligible for demotion in the FTSE. The FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 will undergo their quarterly reshuffle after market close tomorrow – and DFS, Countrywide Properties and Travis Perkins are all [...]
BT Openreach’s conscious uncoupling: Reactions from four City analysts (and one business school professor) November 29, 2016 Entire geological eras have passed since Ofcom first began um-ing and ah-ing about spinning BT's Openreach broadband division out from the main company. Today the communications watchdog said it will definitely push ahead with plans to legally separate the two entities, causing BT's share price to fall as much as 1.5 per cent this morning, before paring [...]
The reality of starting out as a landlord: Four months of no tenants and £2,000 set-up costs November 29, 2016 It may be regarded as a money-spinning idea by some, but a new study has laid bare the challenges of being a landlord. A fifth of new property owners said they had endured four months without tenants after they bought their first properties, according to a study by the Nottingham Building Society – while 53 per cent [...]
In pictures: Blackout on Black Friday – huge power cut hits central London November 25, 2016 A huge blackout has hit central London, including Soho and parts of Piccadilly Circus. The blackout left PIccadilly Circus' iconic advertising boards blank, while diners were forced to eat by candle light. Lights were out in shops and restaurants, while commuters reported overcrowding in Tube stations as shoppers and revellers went to other parts of the [...]
Going where no market has gone before: Dow Jones and S&P 500 scale new heights on Black Friday November 25, 2016 Most of the US population might be out beating each other to a pulp to get at Black Friday deals – but traders were on more of a share-buying frenzy, sending two of the US' blue chip indexes to record highs. The Dow Jones jumped more than 50 points to 19,143.9 points in early trading in [...]
Housebuilder shares fall on a quiet day on the markets November 25, 2016 It's so quiet on the markets today you can hear a pin drop – but that didn't stop housebuilders from being hit after this week's Autumn Statement. On the FTSE 100, Persimmon and Barratt were among the biggest fallers – they were both 0.8 per cent lower, at 1,715p and 469.6p respectively. Tayler Wimpey, the other [...]
The average £1m London home now has fewer than three bedrooms November 25, 2016 The average home worth £1m in the capital has just 2.9 bedrooms, figures have suggested. Using data from OntheMarket.com Savills researcher Lucian Cook found homes valued at between £900,000 and £1.1m across the rest of the UK have more than four bedrooms – while in London, it is fewer than three. The next lowest figure [...]
Jaguar Land Rover will create 10,000 jobs by building its electric car in the UK November 25, 2016 Take that, Brexit naysayers. Not only has the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover said he wants to build his electric car in the UK – creating thousands of jobs in the process, reports suggested. In a speech at a meeting of political and automotive leaders last night, Ralf Speth said the company is planning to double production to [...]
A third of City workers reckon their employers might move abroad because of Brexit November 25, 2016 A third of City workers reckon say their employers might be planning to relocate after the Brexit vote, a new study has found. The survey, by Morgan McKinley, found 31 per cent of those in the Square Mile believe their bosses either definitely are or might be moving parts of their business abroad. Just under [...]