By: Helen Cahill

I report on retail and property for City A.M. I have covered the investigation into BHS and London's housing crisis. You can email me on helen.cahill@cityam.com with tips or commentary.

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One in five first time buyers have been given a hand by Help to Buy

December 15, 2016

One in five house purchases made by first time buyers are now being supported by the government's Help to Buy Isa. The scheme, which was started on 1 December last year, gives aspiring home owners a 25 per cent boost to their savings when buying a property worth £250,000 or less. The price limit rises to [...]
Retail sales continue on upwards trend ahead of Christmas shopping season

December 15, 2016

The amount Britons spent in November increased 5.9 per cent year-on-year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). At £34.2bn for the four-week period, retail sales in November were up 0.5 per cent as compared to October. This equated to an average weekly spend of £8.5bn. The ONS said retailers selling household goods had boosted their [...]
Meet Tate & Lyle’s new chairman

December 15, 2016

Tate & Lyle has announced Gerry Murphy will become the company's chairman next year. Murphy has worked for other food and drinks businesses including Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo) and Greencore, where he was chief executive for four years. He will be taking over from Sir Peter Gershon on 1 April next year. Tate & Lyle's share price was [...]
Zara owner Inditex announces profit rise amid ongoing global expansion

December 14, 2016

Inditex, the owner of various fashion brands including Zara and Bershka, has announced a nine per cent rise in its nine-month profit. Net profit reached €2.2bn (£1.85bn), and gross margin was 57.9 per cent. The Spanish retailer's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased 8.4 per cent, hitting €3.6bn. Read more: Zara owner [...]
Loans to home buyers fell in October

December 14, 2016

Loans to home buyers fell by eight per cent in October, despite the amount borrowers are paying towards interest rates hitting a historic low. First-time buyers borrowed £4.5bn, a monthly decrease of eight per cent, and a year-on-year drop of two per cent, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Read more: [...]
This is what will happen to house prices in 2017

December 14, 2016

How will the UK's favourite asset fare in 2017? It's safe to say that the Brexit vote has not caused the immediate and catastrophic housing crash that former chancellor George Osborne was predicting before the referendum. But the outlook for property next year is not particularly rosy. Liberum analysts are expecting house prices to fall [...]
Pokemon didn’t make people Go, according to scientists

December 14, 2016

Pokémon Go was undoubtedly the biggest fad of 2016. Within half an hour of the game's release, half a million people had downloaded it on Android devices and by the end of the day it was at the top of the UK app charts. As the craze took hold of the nation, businesses tried to cash [...]
London has paid £15.1bn in property taxes

December 13, 2016

London has paid a massive £15.1bn in property taxes according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). New figures from the OECD show that the UK has the highest property taxes in the world, and London pays a fifth of the total collected. Read more: Top industry groups hit out at proposed changes [...]
M&S chairman Robert Swannell is leaving

December 13, 2016

Marks and Spencer's chairman Robert Swannell is retiring in 2017, the company announced this morning. He will continue in his role until a replacement is found. Vindi Banga, senior independent director at M&S, will be leading the search for a new chairman. Swannell said: “A year ago we chose Steve Rowe as our chief executive. Steve [...]
UK house price growth slowed in October

December 13, 2016

House price growth slowed in October, with prices increasing 6.9 per cent in the year, down from seven per cent growth in September. The UK average house price was £217,000 in October, up £14,000 annually, but unchanged from the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics. Read more: Bellway boosted by Help to [...]

Why it could now cost more to sack an executive in the UK than FRANCE

Major development in £3bn project backed by Crystal Palace co-owner David Blitzer

‘Bankers are people too’: Inside tongue-in-cheek bar The Pregnant Man

By: Helen Cahill

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