Lehman-style crisis forecast for Eurozone October 16, 2011 BRITAIN’S economic growth is grinding to a halt due to an impending Lehman-style financial crisis in the Eurozone, according to the Centre for Economic Business Research (CEBR) – and more quantiative easing is the best solution. The think tank slashed its economic growth forecast for 2011 from 1.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent, and predicts [...]
Survey: finance firms worry about emerging market laws October 16, 2011 SOUTH ASIA and other fast-growing economies might offer the best opportunities for financial institutions looking to grow, but their legal systems are a major drawback, according to a survey out today from Norton Rose. Asia won out firmly as the main driver of growth in the survey of over 200 institutions. South and north Asia [...]
Inflation set to hit three year high of five per cent October 16, 2011 CONSUMER prices rose by five per cent in the year to September, tomorrow’s figures are expected to reveal. August’s inflation report from the Bank predicted that consumer price index (CPI) inflation would exceed five per cent before the end of 2011. The last time CPI inflation stood so high was in September 2008. August’s prices [...]
ANALYSTS’ VIEWS: WILL SEPTEMBER’S INFLATION HIT 5PC? October 16, 2011 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “September’s inflation will jump to 5.1 per cent, thanks mainly to sharp increase in gas and electricity prices. However, we are hopeful that inflation will fall back below five per cent next month and drop through three per cent in the first half of 2012.” KEN WATTRET | BNP PARIBAS “CPI [...]
House price rises limited to the south October 16, 2011 HOUSE prices in the south are now over twice as high as elsewhere in England and Wales, according to asking prices collated by Rightmove. Asking prices in southern regions have shot up by 4.7 per cent this month, wedging an even bigger gap between housing costs in the south compared to further north. In London [...]
City office take-up stays low October 16, 2011 THE TAKE-UP of new office space in London’s Square Mile this year could drop to its lowest since 2003 as economic uncertainty continues to dampen demand, property consultant Cushman & Wakefield has warned. Research published by the firm today shows that leasing activity in the City and the Docklands rose more than 73 per cent [...]
Letting agents say supply of rental homes is falling October 16, 2011 THE SUPPLY of residential accommodation available to rent is in sharp decline, according to a report released this morning. The number of letting agents reporting that there are more tenants than properties has reached the highest level since records began, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has said. Around three quarters of respondents to [...]
The quiet diplomat who is fighting on behalf of the real squeezed middle October 16, 2011 IT is always hard to fill someone else’s shoes, especially if they belong to a larger-than-life figure such as Lord Digby Jones or Sir Richard Lambert. That was the position that John Cridland found himself in when he took the reins at the CBI just under a year ago. The mild-mannered, softly spoken 50-year old [...]
Crunch time for Best Buy’s UK venture October 16, 2011 THE fate of 11 giant out of town stores owned by Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse is close to being decided, with a sale or closure the most likely outcome. The joint venture partners this summer froze the planned opening of a string of new stores and launched a review into the existing ones after [...]
Train journeys set to return to peacetime high October 16, 2011 RAIL PASSENGER numbers grew by more than five per cent over the summer, helped by more travellers switching to public transport as high petrol prices force drivers to leave their cars at home. Figures from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) show that the number of journeys taken in the third quarter of this [...]
