Labour and Liberals move to the left April 14, 2010 NEW Labour isn’t dead: about that Alistair Darling could not have been any more emphatic in his interview with City A.M. today. We asked him whether Labour’s manifesto – with its 50p tax, restrictions on hostile takeover bids, increases in regulation and no clear plan to reduce the size of the state – should be [...]
Lib Dem plans fail to impress businesses April 14, 2010 BUSINESS rounded on the Liberal Democrat manifesto yesterday, although economists praised the party for providing more detail on tax and spending than either of the two main parties. John Cridland, the deputy director-general of the CBI, said it was vital that all parties “established a clear and robust plan to rebuild the public finances” and [...]
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MANIFESTO | AT A GLANCE April 14, 2010 Economy • Save up to £15bn in government spending per year. A third will be set aside for additional spending commitments, but £10bn each year, after 2011/12, will go towards paying off the deficit, set to be £163bn this financial year. • A cap on public sector pay rises, restricting tax credits, ending government payments [...]
SPREAD BET GURU April 11, 2010 JOSHUA RAYMOND MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, with the general election announced, what will the market focus on? A. British investors will keep an eye on the progress of both Labour and the Conservatives as we head closer to election day. The issue of a hung parliament is long-standing and we have already seen [...]
BlueCrest to move its HQ to Guernsey April 8, 2010 BLUECREST Capital Management, which recently said it would open an office in Geneva, is continuing to move out of the UK by re-locating its headquarters to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Michael Platt, the founder of the blue chip hedge fund, told investors in a letter that regulation was a factor in his decision to [...]
Pizza boss Osmond to get a slice of £100m from Pearl April 5, 2010 Private equity owners Hugh Osmond and Manjit Dale stand to gain more than £100m in the run-in to the summer listing of Phoenix. The pair, through their respective vehicles Sun Capital and TDR Capital, own contingent rights to more than 20m unissued shares in Phoenix, the new name for zombie life assurance fund Pearl. These [...]
Accountants hit by sharp rise in claims March 28, 2010 PROFESSIONAL negligence claims taken out against accountants in the High Court significantly jumped last year as a result of the global recession. The High Court heard 13 professional negligence claims taken against accountants in 2009, according to data published by law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). The number marks a sharp increase from the previous [...]
City rates the Budget 3.8 out of 10 March 25, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling must try harder. That was the verdict of our panel of City and business professionals, who gave the chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday a score of 3.8 out of 10. The City A.M./PHI Panel, which has been specially recruited to represent London’s financial and business community, was asked to score some of the measures [...]
Mixed reactions to yesterday’s Budget March 25, 2010 THE chancellor’s Budget speech contained many references to entrepreneurs, but what was the substance, and will small businesses actually benefit? The main announcement was a one-off £2.5bn package to help small businesses. However, not all of this money will go directly to helping entrepreneurs. “The package includes all sorts of things including the university regeneration [...]
BUYING March 25, 2010 Camilla Dell MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, I am looking to sell my house in the near future and I was wondering how the property will be valued. A.The process of valuation in the current property market has become a very tricky business. Traditionally, valuers have depended, at least partially, on sale prices [...]