Bloodhound SSC race car stops by Willis: 1,000mph supersonic dream machine is City’s star attraction April 27, 2015 Something shiny caught The Capitalist’s eye near the iconic Lloyd’s building yesterday. Redefining the notion of a flashy car, most passing insurance workers on their lunch breaks could only look on adoringly and weep at the £20m price-tag. Designed to set a new land-speed record of 800 miles per hour on the vast, smooth plains [...]
Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Persimmon share prices dip as fears about Labour rent control plans take hold April 27, 2015 Housing experts warned that Labour plans to bring in rent controls could lead to investors pulling out of the rental market. The Association of Rental Letting Agents (ARLA) said yesterday that three-quarters of its members feared the plans would “see landlords exit the market and reduce supply”. Such fears led to an immediate [...]
Home building unlikely to reach pre-recession levels this year April 27, 2015 The prospects for UK house building are grim, according to a survey of homebuilders published yesterday by estate agents Knight Frank. Only nine per cent of home builders said it was possible to build more than 200,000 residential units a year. The maximum number that could be built was around 180,000 or less, according to [...]
Rent control plans: Breaking down Labour’s latest housing proposals April 27, 2015 Q What is Labour proposing for tenants and landlords? A Labour leader Ed Miliband says his government would cap rents so they could not rise by more than the consumer price index (CPI) during secure, three-year tenancies. Q Would all tenancies change to three years under the Labour proposal? A Labour says that from [...]
Staffline is new leader for welfare-to-work after £34m deal to buy A4E April 27, 2015 Recruitment firm Staffline yesterday became the UK’s biggest welfare-to-work supplier after it struck a £36.4m deal to buy business consultancy A4E, helping crystallise a £20m fortune for A4E founder Emma Harrison. The junior stock market listed firm, which offers a variety of outsourcing services, will pay £23.5m in cash and assume A4E’s £11m of [...]
Bob Diamond firm Atlas Mara eyes up Banque Populaire du Rwanda as Africa expansion continues April 27, 2015 Bob Diamond’s firm Atlas Mara is in talks to buy a second Rwandan bank, as part of his plan to shake up lending across Africa. If the deal goes ahead, Atlas Mara will acquire a 45 per cent stake in Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR), on an investment of $22.5m (£14.7m). BPR has 191 branches [...]
RBS sells another $5.6bn of US loans as it re-focuses on Britain April 27, 2015 RBS SOLD another giant package of US and Canadian loans yesterday, with Japanese bank Mizuho snapping up the assets. The $5.6bn (£3.7bn) of loan commitments generated a post-tax profit of $20m last year and is being sold for around $500m. That means RBS is making a loss on the sale. But it moves the bank closer to [...]
UK’s big four banks face £19bn more in conduct fines April 27, 2015 Legal and compensation payouts are set to cost the big four UK banks another £19bn over 2015 and 2016, analysts at credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said yesterday. Mounting bills come on top of the £42bn the four have already paid out over the past five years. The next nine largest lenders paid a further £6bn [...]
Challenger bank Cambridge and Counties swings to profit in just its second year trading April 27, 2015 Challenger bank Cambridge and Counties delivered a pre-tax profit of £4.1m in 2014, compared to a loss of £99,000 when it was set up in the previous year. It was established by the University of Cambridge’s Trinity Hall and Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund, using their large asset base to set up a small business-focused lender. Its [...]
London house prices: West End buyers shrug off stamp duty rise and mansion tax threat as sales rise April 27, 2015 The West End residential market saw no let up in activity over the first quarter of the year, figures show, despite changes to stamp duty and the threat of Labour’s proposed mansion tax. Property advisory firm CBRE said sales transactions jumped by 33 per cent on last year as it agreed sales on £54.7m worth [...]
