Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 18, 2016 Japan avoids a recession and the oil price could be about to climb over $50 per barrel for the first time this year. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. Markets look flat before the open. S&P futures are dead-centre, not even a point off. The Nasdaq is down by 0.01 [...]
EU referendum: Fitch warns that protracted post-Brexit negotiations could trigger recession May 16, 2016 The stakes of any post-Brexit negotiations were laid bare today in a new report from ratings agency Fitch, which assesses how the UK economy will perform if it were to secure different terms of exit after voting to leave the EU. In its worst scenario – in which Fitch predicts at least two years of political wrangling along with [...]
Profits at UK firms are at their lowest level since before the financial crisis May 16, 2016 Profits at the UK’s largest companies slumped to their lowest level in a decade in 2015, with turmoil in the banking and commodities industries weighing heavily on corporate performance. New analysis from the Share Centre, released today, shows that the FTSE 350 – the UK’s largest 350 listed companies – posted combined pre-tax profits of £84bn last [...]
Top City advisers to be grilled by MPs in wake of BHS collapse May 15, 2016 A string of top City advisers are set for a grilling over the BHS fiasco after being called to give evidence in front of MPs. The business, innovation and skills committee is currently running an inquiry into the sale and acquisition of BHS, which kicked off last week with a joint hearing alongside the work [...]
Have Asda execs been stress eating with James Martin ahead of first quarter results? May 15, 2016 Has Asda chief Andy Clarke been eating his feelings? The Big Four retail giant has struck up a delicious partnership with former Saturday Kitchen star James Martin. Last month the Yorkshire foodie figure rustled up a strawberry gateau with Asda boss Andy Clarke at the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane in London, marking the start of a new marketing partnership [...]
Businesses in London face £7.5bn tax increase May 12, 2016 Industry groups have warned of a London exodus if business rates are not cut, as new research predicts that firms in the capital will face a £7.5bn tax hike after next April’s revaluation. Property consultancy Gerald Eve, who compiled the eye-watering estimates, predicts that businesses solely within the Square Mile will have to pay more than [...]
Focus On Shepherd’s Bush: Westfield expansion and old BBC Television Centre homes put W12 in limelight May 12, 2016 For years now, the east has been the land of regeneration. The long lead up to the Olympic Games in Stratford and the success of the City fringes have seen most of property agents’ “up-and-coming” rhetoric focused in that direction and one could be mistaken for thinking there was simply nowhere else for traditionally prosperous west [...]
Small businesses don’t back Brexit: They gain too much from our EU membership May 12, 2016 I come from a family of entrepreneurs and am passionate about our small businesses and the amazing people behind them. They take an idea, innovate, build something new, and fight to make it a success through the good times and the bad. They also provide two thirds of private sector jobs in the UK. As [...]
London is home to more multi-millionaires than any other city in the world May 12, 2016 London has more multi-millionaires than any other city in the world, new research reveals. The UK’s capital is home to 4,400 “super-rich” people with net assets worth $30m (£20.7m) or more, excluding the value of their main house, figures from data provider Wealth Insight for 2015 show. This is up by 0.8 per cent over [...]
Ryan Bertrand’s secret second career as a fintech entrepreneur – and John Terry is backing his latest venture May 11, 2016 The history of football’s relationship with technology is a chequered one, from the game’s long resistance to implementing goal-line gadgetry to the tale of former Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell taking a power drill to his toenail in the misguided belief that it would relieve pain. Ryan Bertrand hopes to change that perception. When he is [...]