At the close: Opec uncertainty holds the FTSE 100 down June 2, 2016 What was a volatile day on the markets ended rather flat. Big European Central Bank (ECB) and Opec meetings in Vienna failed to move the FTSE 100 far in either direction and it ended down 0.1 per cent at 6,185.61 points. The ECB decided, as expected, to keep interest rates on hold. Though it did raise growth and [...]
Best of British: Four top UK stocks for your ISA – the cream of the house builders, defence, television and retail May 31, 2016 The UK is home to many great businesses and buying shares in ones with good business models and prospects for growth can be a great way to boost savings in an Isa or Sipp. Markets have been rocky this year because of Brexit and trouble overseas, but we asked the best fund managers for examples of [...]
Focus On Deptford: First time buyers flock to SE8 in search of affordable homes, but is it the new Shoreditch? May 26, 2016 In Tudor times, Deptford was the centre of the naval world. Operated by the Royal Navy from the mid-16th to the late 19th century, the Deptford Docks maintained warships for 350 years and attracted the greatest mariners of the time to its shores, from Sir Water Raleigh to Sir Francis Drake. But once the navy [...]
Plumbers ramp up fees on emergency call outs by 117 per cent May 17, 2016 Plumbers ramp up their fees by a staggering 117 per cent if they are called out in an emergency, new research has found. Householders who desperately need a tradesperson to fix a water leak end up paying a “plumber premium” on the normal hourly rate, with some plumbers quoting up to £300+VAT an hour, according to [...]
Barratt predicts “significant improvement” as help to buy boosts housebuilding May 11, 2016 Barratt is showing no signs of suffering from the slowdown in property sales, with the housebuilder today confidently forecasting "a significant improvement in performance for the full year" thanks to help to buy. The figures The 19 weeks to 8 May have been "strong", with total forward sales, including joint ventures, up by 9.7 per cent to £2,8bn. Net [...]
New homes on sale this weekend, including the former BBC Television Centre in White City April 22, 2016 Television Centre, White City From £700,000 The former home of the BBC forms the centrepiece of the regeneration of White City, which will see 5,000 new homes built in total. The first batch of homes will go on sale from 23 April at 11am in the Television Centre Pavilion. The first phase will consist of [...]
Housebuilder share prices jump as analyst turns totally positive on UK housebuilders April 22, 2016 Shares in housebuilders have suffered in recent months, partly thanks to analyst Liberum, which in November published a note suggesting shares in UK housebuilders were "overvalued". But this morning, the analyst turned (slightly) bullish, saying it was "less cautious" about housebuilders' share prices. Back in November, Liberum's Charlie Campbell downgraded Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey to "sell", saying [...]
Area guide: Wembley – house prices have risen by 10 per cent in the last year April 14, 2016 It may be the home of football, but Wembley’s also home to around 115,000 Londoners. And with its diverse housing stock and decent transport links, it could be your new home, too. Research from estate agent Hamptons International recorded a “surge” in transactions in Wembley last year, as hundreds of new build flats went on [...]
City heavyweights join shadow business secretary Angela Eagle to decide the corporate winners of this year’s LGBT Awards April 6, 2016 Distinguished business figures met in the capital today to decide the British LGBT Awards corporate winners The judging panel, made up illustrious names across the banking, finance and legal sectors, met up with shadow business secretary Angela Eagle to pick out winners for an array of gongs that praise the hard work done by Square Mile staffers [...]
Property Entrepreneurs: How Pelican Media built an app to sell City apartments off-plan March 30, 2016 When the luxury apartments at Landmark Place in the City of London were launched in February, their details were presented on a series of iPad Pros. The new tablet had been launched just three months previously, but Tony Nicol could see the benefits of using the new hardware – and set his team racing to [...]