Fresh blow for Woodford investors as biotech sell-off fails February 9, 2020 Investors in the failed flagship fund of Neil Woodford are facing a further blow after a £550m deal to rescue a portfolio of his stakes in biotech startups collapsed, raising concerns the holdings will be offloaded in a fire sale. WG Partners, a boutique investment bank specialising in life sciences, had been trying to assemble [...]
UK house prices leap 4.1 per cent in bumper January – Halifax February 7, 2020 UK house prices jumped 4.1 per cent in January on an annual basis to come close to a two-year high, fresh figures from Halifax showed today. Homes rose 0.4 per cent in value compared to December, and climbed 2.3 per cent on a quarterly basis, Halifax’s house price index revealed. Russell Galley, managing director of [...]
UK fund markets buoyed by ‘Boris bounce’ February 6, 2020 The UK fund market has benefited from the ‘Boris bounce’, ending the year with December inflows of £3.6bn. The net retail sales for the month were more than double the November figure and the biggest monthly inflow since January 2018, according to the latest figures published by the Investment Association (IA). On an individual fund [...]
Housebuilder Redrow’s profit falls 15 per cent February 5, 2020 Housebuilder Redrow hailed what it called a “robust” performance in the six months to December, despite posting a 15 per cent fall in profit amid “an uncertain political and economic background”. The figures Redrow revealed profit before tax sank 15 per cent year on year to £157m in the first half of its 2020 financial [...]
Fashion Week highlights: The global outlook of the fashion and textile industry February 4, 2020 Counting the cost of international payments in uncertain times The arrival of London Fashion Week sees buyers looking to define the trends for the coming season but the nature of the buying cycle means that these are particularly challenging times for importers and exporters of textiles and fashion. Uncertainty in global trade created by Brexit [...]
Property of the Week: A Wapping warehouse where WWI soldiers’ toothpaste was made January 24, 2020 Located halfway between Bank and Canary Wharf, Wapping’s waterside is a favourite location for the swanky riverside apartments of young financial services types. But dial back the clock a hundred years and it was a far grittier affair, the landscape dominated by bustling docks and factory chimneys. This penthouse that has just come on the [...]
Department store chain Beales falls into administration January 20, 2020 Department store chain Beales has entered administration this morning, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk. The retailer had been in crisis talks with potential buyers in a bid to stave off a collapse, however the company was unable to secure a deal. Professional services firm KPMG has been appointed as administrator, and the firm’s [...]
UK house prices: Post-election surge breaks records January 20, 2020 The decisive result of the General Election sparked a record-breaking surge in UK house prices in December and January, in the latest sign that the UK housing market has been revitalised by a “Boris bounce” There was a 2.3 per cent monthly surge in the average price of property coming to the market between 8 [...]
Chancellor’s Budget on 11 March – to tax or not to tax January 17, 2020 Having inadvertently set a record by having a year without a Budget, the first time this has happened since the introduction of income tax, the Chancellor’s choice of Wednesday 11 March, rather than “February” as stated in the election campaign, gives the busy Treasury a little more time to work up the ideas that were [...]
London property market sentiment strengthens after Conservative election victory January 16, 2020 London’s property market has enjoyed a “Boris bounce” following the result of last month’s General Election, as the capital saw a sharp increase in buyer interest and sales prospects. In December, 31 per cent of chartered surveyors saw a rise rather than a fall in enquiries from new buyers, up from minus 12 in November, [...]