London house prices keep on soaring upward March 18, 2012 HOUSE prices are seeing their best start to the year since 2004, according to a study out today from Rightmove, while another study showed rental prices are at record highs. Average prices have increased 1.6 per cent this month to £236,939, taking the quarterly increase to 4.9 per cent, while prices in Greater London are [...]
CITY CYCLISTS SHOW THEY CARE WITH OLYMPIAN CHARITY RIDE March 18, 2012 TEAMS from the City are signing up to CARE’s Gold Bike Ride supported by City A.M. on Saturday 23 June. The route will see cyclists ride a minimum of 65 miles and a maximum of 130 miles of the Olympic Road Race route a month before the nation’s competitors take to the saddle. A team [...]
Japanese help to boost UK tourist trade March 18, 2012 JAPAN’S economic recovery has fuelled a resurgence in Japanese travellers to the UK, helping to boost overall tourist spend by 46 per cent last month compared with the same period last year. Japanese shoppers spent an average of £449 per store when shopping in the UK, with overall spend up by 35 per cent in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 18, 2012 KINGFISHER Bank of America Merrill Lynch rates the retail group “buy” with a target price of 320p. The broker expects to see pre-tax profits of £812m when the firm reports full year results on Thursday, which could feed through to a dividend hike. BAML thinks Kingfisher has the scope to grow its margins further this [...]
THE WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD March 18, 2012 INVESTORS are beginning to wonder if this “Energizer Bunny” of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall. Every Friday for the past couple of months, the question has hung in the back of investors’ minds: Is the stock market’s rally strong enough to continue without a correction? Even with [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 18, 2012 Carey Olsen The leading legal services provider, with offices in London and the Channel Islands, has announced that Elaine Gray is joining its Guernsey litigation and dispute resolution group. Gray is the second senior level appointment to the department in less than a year, following the arrival of contentious trust specialist Michael McAuley in July [...]
Budget week will see Italy, inflation and retail in focus March 18, 2012 TODAY I anticipate a quiet start to the week, with a lack of economic announcements from the UK and the US. All eyes are likely to focus on the Eurozone as we get further indication of the health of one of its largest economies. Italy reports industrial order and sales numbers at 9am for January. [...]
Entrepreneurs’ wish list for Wednesday’s Budget March 18, 2012 TAX MADSEN PIRIE CURBING public spending keeps down borrowing rates, but we need a growth agenda, too, and specifically we need encouragement for the entrepreneurs who will create the new wealth and the new jobs of Britain’s future. We don’t need a few more token sums available to approved borrowers; we need instead a shift [...]
UTILISE WHAT GOVERNMENT ALREADY GIVES March 18, 2012 EVEN the staunchest opponent of George Osborne would have to concede that there is no silver bullet to reduce the deficit and boost growth that can come out of Wednesday’s Budget. So, what do we expect? Clearly some quick, high level cost-cutting measures. The personal allowance is already pledged to increase to at least £8,105. [...]
Before introducing costly new schemes government should first do less harm March 18, 2012 LET’S face it. In asking for government favours entrepreneurs are a vested interest like all the rest. Because they aren’t collectivised in the same way as more experienced lobbyists, they don’t get the same hearing as big business. Yet what they lack in voice they make up for in value for money. Politicians are more [...]
