Habito founder Daniel Hegarty talks fintech mortgages, bigamy and working above a kebab shop December 19, 2016 Many people have a career change. Before venturing into fintech, Daniel Hegarty, founder of digital mortgage broker Habito, was a professional musician, composing for TV and film and touring internationally. In 2007, he joined a few people trying to work out how to do loans on the internet in real time, in a pre-launch company [...]
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says Chinese spending power “a danger to every club in the world” as Oscar exit looms December 16, 2016 Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes every club in the world is under threat of having star players prised away by cash-rich Chinese teams. Blues midfielder Oscar is on the verge of finalising a mooted £50m move to Shanghai SIPG, where he is reportedly set to earn an eye-watering £400,000-a-week. Conte expects to receive a significant proportion [...]
Heron Tower still standing as overseas lenders flock to financing deal December 15, 2016 The City of London’s tallest skyscraper has attracted new lenders to the UK commercial property market, as its financers reached their syndication target. ING and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) have now completed the syndication of their £400m loan against Heron Tower. The pair have syndicated over £200m, exceeding their 50 per cent target. It is understood [...]
Chinese mega cities increase dominance in Schroders Global Cities 30 index December 15, 2016 Fund manager Hugo Machin explains the trends behind the latest moves in the Schroders Global Cities index Chinese cities had a strong showing in the first Schroders Global Cities 30 index, launched in the summer. In the first update to the index, that dominance has only increased. Four of the top five spots are now [...]
BI announces its best performing champagne for 2016 December 14, 2016 One of the world's leading fine wine merchants and traders has announced its top performing champagne of 2016. BI, formerly Bordeaux Index, said this year's best champagne on its LiveTrade platform was the 2007 Louis Roederer Cristal, with sales up 53 per cent since it was added to the live, two-way buying and selling platform [...]
Football’s new arms race: leading clubs looking to sell shirt sleeve sponsorship for £10m a year ahead of Premier League rule change December 14, 2016 They routinely adorn the biceps of Lionel Messi and Neymar and flutter on the jerseys of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, yet until now they have been forbidden in the Premier League. Sponsors’ logos on football clubs’ shirt sleeves are on their way to England’s top division from next season, however, as teams look to [...]
The $1bn sector: Audioboom is convinced splashing the cash in the US will be worth it December 14, 2016 Audioboom’s revenues jumped but losses were more than expected during the 12 months its boss said "would be the year that we proved our business model". The podcast firm revealed bumper fourth quarter revenues today, but negative earnings swelled as a result of increased costs from a strategic push to move operations to the US. [...]
Government publishes steel requirements between now and 2020 in a bid to boost domestic industry December 13, 2016 The government has published details of its plan to use 3m tonnes of steel in infrastructure projects by 2020 in a bid to give beleaguered domestic steelmakers a better chance of winning government contracts. The amount of steel required across 18 central government infrastructure projects, including HS2, the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant and upgrading [...]
As Trump enters the White House, will the Federal Reserve hike interest rates more aggressively in 2017? December 13, 2016 It was Ronald Reagan who warned against inflation in 1984 by describing it creeping “like a thief in the night to rob our savings, rob our earnings, and take the bread off our tables.” It is ironic then that President-elect Donald Trump, who borrowed his forebear’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” to win the [...]
Santa’s naughty list could well be shorter this year as coal demand waning and growth set to stall for next five years December 12, 2016 Waning appetite from key consuming nations and swift growth in other sources of energy will stall global demand for coal over the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). (Though maybe it's just that so few children were naughty this year that coal's no longer needed…) Coal demand fell last year for [...]