London must shake off its complacency over housing and infrastructure if it’s to thrive post-Brexit October 31, 2016 Rarely has a ranking of the world’s greatest cities been released in the past few years without London at its top, or very near it. PwC recently named the capital the world’s best city for opportunity, praising its economic clout, its attractiveness to foreign direct investment, its highly skilled workforce, and its status as a [...]
Home is where the smart is: City A.M. meets Krystian Zajac October 31, 2016 When I first came to the UK, I was living in a tiny flat with five other people. I was educated, but washing dishes for a living. I did not care, the money was still better than what I got in Poland,” says Krystian Zajac, founder of Andrew Lucas. As far as rags to riches [...]
Giving Uber drivers “worker” status is bad news for passengers, the gig economy and the drivers themselves October 28, 2016 Friday's decision to grant two Uber drivers worker status is bad news not just for Uber, but for its drivers, its customers, and the future of the “gig economy” as a whole. It is primarily bad for Uber drivers. We know for a fact that, by vast margins (five to one), they don’t want to [...]
The Big Bang 30 years on: How the City of London has changed since 1986 October 26, 2016 Nothing stands still in the City. The world's financial services powerhouse has seen it all, from boom and bust to bouncebacks and Brexit. Its skyline has changed almost beyond recognition over the last three decades, as have the markets it serves. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the so-called Big Bang, we cannot help [...]
Labour’s City man gets real over green belt October 26, 2016 Building in Britain is not always easy, as the debacle over airport expansion shows. The government satisfied business groups yesterday by revealing its intention to allow a third runway at Heathrow – but even though Theresa May has acted reasonably quickly, the verdict follows years of dawdling, and arrives nearly half a century after Harold Wilson [...]
The future of London: Is the city edging towards independence? September 12, 2016 It is increasingly easy to characterise London as a “city state”. Its scale, wealth and multi-dimensional differences (as compared to the rest of the country) mean it has more in common with New York or Toronto than with Yorkshire or Scotland. The creation of the office of mayor of London, a glamorous Americanised form of government, makes [...]
Why we’re backing Britain’s resilient and optimistic small businesses September 8, 2016 In the run up to June’s referendum vote, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) became a focal point for both Leave and Remain camps, with each side claiming the support of small business owners for their different visions of Britain’s future. This focus on SMEs was unsurprising – these businesses are the nuts and bolts of British [...]
Wake up, Britain: Your post-Brexit future is brighter than you realise September 6, 2016 This is an extract from a speech to be given at the Institute for Turnaround Conference in London on 8 September 2016. Britain's future is brighter than the British realise. This is perfectly obvious to outsiders but the British can’t believe it. Britain has been for some time the second most compelling investment destination after [...]
Pension or property: Which is the better option for your retirement? August 31, 2016 The Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane drew ire from the pensions industry for the second time this year, when he claimed that property was a better investment option for retirement than a pension in an interview with The Sunday Times this weekend. “It ought to be pensions but it’s almost certainly property,” Haldane said. [...]
Housing benefit going to private landlords has doubled to £9.3bn over a decade August 20, 2016 The amount of housing benefits being paid to private landlords has doubled over the last 10 years, with the cost to taxpayers greatest in London and the South East, and housing associations blaming a shortfall in social housing. According to figures from the National Housing Federation, almost one in three housing benefit recipients now live in a privately rented [...]