Wealthy foreign investors push pedal on UK property purchases November 12, 2021 Foreign ownership of homes in England and Wales has reportedly nearly tripled over the past decade, as wealthy investors eye the UK’s coveted property portfolio. Nearly 250,000 homes in England and Wales have been registered with overseas-based buyers, a figure which has swelled from fewer than 88,000 homes in 2010, according to the Consumer Financial [...]
COP26: Calls to end fossil fuel subsidies absent from climate pact November 12, 2021 The latest draft of the COP26 climate pact does not call for fossil fuel subsidies to end, according to Bloomberg. The text even weakens demands for a phase-out of fossil fuels subsidies and coal. It now calls for the phase-out of “unabated” coal power and of “inefficient” subsidies for fossil fuels. That draft waters down [...]
Toshiba proposes historic break-up plan amid pressure from activist shareholders November 12, 2021 Toshiba is breaking up its empire and is splitting into three separate companies amid growing pressure from activist investors. The Japanese giant will house its hard drives and semiconductors in one company, and its energy and infrastructure holdings in another. It’s 40.4 per cent stake in flash-memory chip company Kioxia Holdings will form the basis [...]
MPs accused of renting out London homes with taxpayer cash November 12, 2021 Fourteen MPs have been accused of renting out homes using a parliamentary expenses scheme loophole while letting out properties they own in London. It gives the ministers a comfortable side income of at least £10,000 a year, while they use taxpayers’ money to rent other property in the city, The Times reported. Former attorney general [...]
AstraZeneca sales jump 50 per cent as vaccine crawls to profitability November 12, 2021 AstraZeneca’s revenues have soared 32 per cent this year to $25.4bn, powered by booming product sales. Third quarter revenues are up 50 per cent, with the pharmaceutical giant enjoying a $9.87 billion increase in revenues over the three-month period. The company has sold 2.2 billion vaccines since the start of the year. It has now [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile today? November 12, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. BGF Business Growth Fund (BGF) has appointed a new head of ESG and sustainability, who will be tasked with embedding the new investor focus into the fund’s new and existing portfolio companies. Roshni Bandesha has spent the [...]
Editorial: Time to stare down the militant union jeopardising the night tube November 12, 2021 So, we’re back to RMT unrest on the tube. It’s almost enough for us to pine for lockdown again. The barney is thus: in the before times, the night tube relied on around two hundred part-time staff. Those posts were scrapped during the pandemic (for blindingly obvious reasons) and those staff gradually brought in to [...]
Mark Carney, Exxon Mobil and the parable of purpose and turning a profit November 12, 2021 Gfanz, the inelegant rendering of the even less memorable Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, is Mark Carney’s climate change vehicle. Last week, the former Bank of England Governor declared that it had mobilised $130tn in pursuit of net zero. The figure is incredible. For context, it is more than six-times America’s GDP, and greater [...]
Britain’s social insurance is built on harmonious state, private and charity ties November 12, 2021 Every year, when the clock strikes 11 o’clock on November 11, we come together to remember. It is a reminder of friends and times past. But it is also a reminder that communities standing together can make a difference to the lives of many. The Royal British Legion was set up in the aftermath of [...]
US-China rhetoric won’t solve our climate woes if Beijing stays hooked on coal November 12, 2021 In a move reminiscent of the Obama era, the US and China announced a joint agreement on climate change, taking Cop26 attendees by surprise. This commitment to cooperation comes laden with symbolism in a backdrop of wider, intractable tensions in the US-China relationship. But signs of concrete plans remain mysterious. The joint declaration made between [...]
