Stamp duty holiday: Property experts split on benefits of tax break extension February 24, 2021 The government is reportedly planning to extend the stamp duty holiday to June, with buyers set to save £1.75bn on 300,000 additional transactions, according to the latest research. There are an estimated 628,000 sales in total still currently in the legal process across the country – including those agreed last year – data from Rightmove [...]
London house prices: What £500k gets you in tube zones 1 to 6 February 23, 2021 For London workers, it can be an unsettling dilemma whether to spend more on a house near the office or upsize further out but spend more time and money on tubes. House prices differ considerably, even between adjacent tube stations. The average house price in Knightsbridge will set you back around £1.6m but hop on [...]
UK housing transactions slump in January as lockdown implemented February 23, 2021 UK housing transactions slumped last month due to the impact of national lockdown restrictions, according to the latest figures. HM Revenue and Customs data showed the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions in January was 121,640, a drop of 2.4 per cent compared to the previous month. The month-on-month drop is a typical [...]
The Future of DeFi February 23, 2021 DeFi exploded onto the scene in 2020 as the value locked in decentralized platforms climbed into the billions. Yield farming, flash loans, and automated market makers (AMMs) were a few of the hottest topics over the last year. But what does the future of DeFi hold? And will the next round of innovations take advantage [...]
Screenshot: Will Facebook regret going nuclear over Australian news? February 19, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up **Will Facebook regret going nuclear in Australia? **Arm’s getting chippy Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up When Liam Thorp received a text inviting him for his first Covid jab he was confused, given the healthy 32-year-old is pretty low down the [...]
£25.7bn in deals: Strongest M&A start of the year in two decades February 15, 2021 Deals involving a UK investment or acquisition target hit £25.7bn during the first six weeks of this year, more than three times the value recorded during the same period in 2020. It also marks the highest opening six-week period for deal announcements of any year since 2000, according to new data from London Stock Exchange-owned [...]
High street redundancies: Which retailers have cut jobs in the pandemic so far? February 13, 2021 Thousands of high street jobs have evaporated during the coronavirus pandemic, as retail chains have fallen under the pressure of lockdown restrictions on trading. The UK high street, which was already struggling before the pandemic, is set to look very different when shoppers return after lockdown following high profile collapses that have cost many retail [...]
Glaxosmithkline set to close two UK sites following Sandoz deal February 12, 2021 Glaxosmithkline has announced plans to shut its antibiotics business at two UK sites with production shifting to Europe. This week GSK agreed to sell rights to three antibiotic brands, including Zinnat, to Novartis’ Sandoz unit in a deal worth $500m. But the deal is now set to lead to up to 200 job losses as [...]
Key worker demand for affordable homes boosts sales at MJ Gleeson February 11, 2021 Affordable housing developer MJ Gleeson reported a jump in homes sold in the first half due to demand from key workers and first time buyers. MJ Gleeson said revenue was up 35.8 per cent to £142.6m and profit before tax increased 52.6 per cent to £20.3m. Earnings per share in the six months ended 30 [...]
Cutouts, twice-daily tests and no Budweiser adverts: How Super Bowl LV has had to adapt in a pandemic February 6, 2021 Some things about Super Bowl LV will be reassuringly familiar, like the star-spangled razzmatazz and Tom Brady. But Sunday’s game between last year’s winners the Kansas City Chiefs and Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers will also be different to the 54 previous editions. The NFL has had to adapt its season finale for the Covid-19 era, [...]