Why Paris is on the up: tourism, transport and Brexit September 21, 2017 As Global Cities bloggers and property investors, we track a whole range of factors when compiling the Schroders Global Cities index. Strong tourism and improving transport links are among the essential ingredients for improving a city’s prospects and therefore its attraction to commercial real estate investors. Paris, ranked 16th in the index, is worthy of [...]
Made.com is crowdfunding its next must-have furniture designs September 21, 2017 Made.com, the innovative online furniture retailer, is turning to crowdfunding to unearth its latest must-have designs. The internet startup, co-founded by serial entrepreneur Brent Hoberman and backed by millions in venture capital cash, is tapping the hive mind and boom in popularity around creative projects on platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Read more: Podcast: [...]
Toscafund launches €300m fund to invest in unlisted financial and business services companies September 13, 2017 Multi-asset manager Toscafund has launched a new €300m private investment fund, to invest in financial and business services companies around Europe. To head the team, Toscafund has hired Fabrizio Cesario and George Koulouris – both formerly of private equity firm Anacap Financial Partners, a financial services specialist. Read more: Au revoir: Barclays completes sale of [...]
Feeling adventurous: UK private equity firm Inflexion buys Virgin Experience Days September 11, 2017 Private equity firm Inflexion is seeking to cash in on the growing consumer demand for experiences with the purchase of Virgin Experience Days. Virgin Experience Days arranges one-off adventure days for consumers and businesses such as Spitfire flying and supercar driving. The company sells more than 750,000 experiences a year, making revenues of around £50m. [...]
Dress-down Friday? Dress-down every day. The City of London is becoming more casual, with bowler hats out and designer stubble in September 8, 2017 Goodbye bowler hats, brollies and polished black shoes – hello dress-down Fridays, jazzy colours and designer stubble. Dress codes appear to be falling out of fashion in the City of London. Around two-thirds of financial services employees will be allowed to travel into work in casualwear for dress-down Friday today, the results of a new [...]
Sweet deal: Challenger bank OakNorth lends £21m to Strawberry Star for Wandsworth development September 4, 2017 Property developer Strawberry Star has nabbed a tasty £21m from challenger bank OakNorth, to buy a site in Wandsworth to convert into luxury apartments and office units. Along with a further £4.9m of debt from RM Secured Direct Lending, the firm will use OakNorth’s loan to develop 77 residential units with a combined floor area [...]
Focus On Streatham: Where house price growth is nearly 9 per cent year-on-year, twice the London average September 4, 2017 If you have an SW postcode, think of yourself as one of the lucky ones. The average home in south west London now costs over £1m and it’s long been home to some of the most expensive streets in the country. But there is a way to live in an SW postcode without being a [...]
How tobacco stocks could now be damaging to your wealth September 4, 2017 A month has now passed since tobacco businesses – and their share prices – were sent reeling by a US regulatory announcement. So what was the news that, for example, wiped out all the gains British American Tobacco had made in the first half of this year? Was it perhaps about to become illegal to [...]
Cineworld-owned Picturehouse Cinemas narrows losses while staff approve fresh strike action September 3, 2017 Arty cinema chain Picturehouse chain reduced its losses in 2016, but faces further strike action in a dispute between staff and owner Cineworld. For the year ending 31 December 2016, Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd recorded boosted revenues of £28.7m, up from £17.8m the year before. But the cost of sales more than doubled from £6.5m to [...]
Fintech could be risky if banks don’t cooperate, says the Bank for International Settlements August 31, 2017 Banks will need to take measures over the coming years to mitigate the risks of financial technology (fintech), according to a new report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The central bankers’ bank has set up a task force to “provide insight” into the new technology and “explore the implications” for current business models. [...]