It’s time business started to play its vital role in Britain’s EU membership debate November 22, 2015 Britain’s EU membership referendum is a once in a generation choice for the UK. The result is going to define our relationship with our closest geographical neighbours for decades to come. It is a key issue for businesses, but they are avoiding the debate. This is dangerous. When the people of Britain make their choice [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne must end the distortion caused by stamp duty hikes for high value residential property November 22, 2015 In recent years, there has been a perfect storm of changes to residential property taxation: from the introduction of the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings to offshore Capital Gains Tax, from clampdowns on corporate vehicles buying property to the removal of buy-to-let relief. But one change in particular threatens to tip the market over [...]
With public borrowing in October at a six-year high, will deficit reduction be a three-parliament issue? November 22, 2015 Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says Yes. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will revise up its borrowing forecasts in this week’s Autumn Statement, and the surplus predicted for 2019-20 probably will be reduced to just £5bn from £10bn. But even after these revisions, it is doubtful that borrowing will fall as [...]
Tech City UK’s Gerard Grech on blockchain, BMWs and the Commonwealth November 22, 2015 A View To A Kill, with Roger Moore – you know, the one where Max Zorin plots to blow up Silicon Valley and halt microchip production? That was back in the mid-80s!” says Gerard Grech, chief executive of Tech City UK, the government-funded tech cluster at the heart of Silicon Roundabout and London’s burgeoning tech [...]
Win-win: Breaking down barriers for young people – Investec Comment November 22, 2015 It is a priority for all businesses to access talented employees from a range of backgrounds, to harness a broad set of skills and experiences. Yet many exceptional young people face barriers to accessing professional jobs – some obvious, many more subtle – that put them off such a career as an option or take [...]
Why Game of Thrones’ Mother of Dragons Daenerys beats Cersei Lannister as a successful business leader November 22, 2015 In the TV series Game of Thrones, viewers are presented with many examples of leadership in action. But are there any lessons business leaders can take from the show? First, however, consider the limitations of leaders in the real world. The media is full of profiles of accomplished leaders, so we could be forgiven [...]
A meal with a view: Why street food market maverick London Union is looking for investors November 20, 2015 We're just scratching the surface of what’s possible in London,” says Jonathan Downey, co-founder of London Union, which transforms sad corners of the city into vibrant street food markets. Downey, known as JC and founder of Street Feast, teamed up with Henry Dimbleby, the founder of restaurant chain Leon, to start the new company. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 November 2015 November 20, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Vesuvius, a molten metal engineer, is set to feel the steel sector’s pain warns Numis, which reiterated its “hold” rating with a target price of 350p. The broker said, thanks to the group’s restructuring, margins are more resilient than in previous down-periods, which [...]
FTSE 100 boosted by Fed and ECB policy minutes – London Report November 20, 2015 The London market soared yesterday, pushed higher by stronger than forecast results at Royal Mail and more signals of an interest rate rise from the US. The blue-chip index closed up 0.8 per cent at 6,329.93, its fourth consecutive day of gains. The minutes of the policy-setting Fed committee, released after the close on Wednesday, [...]
Frugal innovation: Doing more with less – the six principles to adopt to innovate faster and cheaper November 20, 2015 Stagnant incomes and greater concern for the environment are making western consumers both more value and values conscious. Equally, ordinary people in the West are increasingly empowered to do with limited resources what only large firms could do in the past. Ubiquitous tools, such as smartphones, cloud computing, 3D printers, crowdfunding, and social media, [...]
