RAPID RESPONSES August 6, 2012 Time-saving tech [Re: The technology paradox: It will kill jobs but rescue Britain’s economy, yesterday] I was rather suprised by Matthew Rock’s assertion that new technology kills jobs. If that were the case, the invention of the shovel would have led to economic decline, by allowing one digger to get more work done than many [...]
SIGNS OF LIFE AFTER SHOPPERS RETURN August 5, 2012 LONDON’S retailers were handed a welcome boost over the weekend as shoppers flocked back to stores, though figures released today show Britain’s high streets have seen their worst monthly sales in almost a year. Footfall picked up in the second half of last week and over the weekend, with the capital’s retailers reporting a leap [...]
London must become a global tourist magnet August 5, 2012 EXTRAORDINARY. That was the only way to describe the atmosphere at the Olympic stadium this weekend. Team GB’s astonishing triumph has enthused the nation – it has become virtually impossible to walk anywhere in London without spotting someone sporting a Union Jack – and Usain Bolt’s spectacular 100m Olympic record last night was a magical [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 5, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Greek bank head sent savings abroad A political row has erupted in Athens after the former head of a big Greek state bank admitted to transferring €8m (£6.4m) of personal savings abroad to buy a London property months before his Agricultural Bank headed towards insolvency. Theodoros Pantalakis, former chief executive of Greece’s Agricultural [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 5, 2012 AXA Wealth Andrew Smith has been appointed chief operating officer of the wealth management firm’s Elevate investment platform. He joins from Nucleus, where he was responsible for its platform design and build. Smith has also held senior roles at Logica and Thomson Reuters. Mazars The advisory firm has appointed Phil Verity to the position of [...]
John Lewis sales growth held back by weather August 3, 2012 John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, said sales growth eased last week, with demand sapped by a spell of hot weather and the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The employee-owned firm said today department store sales increased 6.2 per cent year on year to £56.6m in the week to 28 July. In [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Siemens sets out €3bn share buyback Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate, plans to buy back up to €3bn in shares by the end of the year as it tries to make best use of its capital structure. Siemens said in a statement late on Thursday that the equity-for-debt swap would be used to [...]
Olympic slump as ghost town effect worsens August 2, 2012 NEW DATA released yesterday shows just how hard central London has been hit by the Olympics’ focus on the east of the City, with fewer visitor numbers and a significant drop in traffic in the area. Figures from retail specialist Springboard shows that shops and restaurants were much quieter than expected over the first weekend [...]
CITY VIEWS | IS THE CITY SUFFERING FROM THE OLYMPIC EFFECT? August 1, 2012 GRAEME KALBRAIER CALL CONNECTION (LLOYDS OF LONDON) I don’t think City business has been affected by the Olympics at all, though I do think the smashing Olympic complex and the new Westfield complex is a people-magnet. PAUL ALLAN F W BERRINGER Walking around I can see retail activity is still robust, and there are a [...]
How Olympic organisers can get shot of the West End ghost town August 1, 2012 WE’VE scared them off. Somewhere between Boris Johnson’s ominous ode to overcrowding, and TfL’s weird posters of diligent Londoners in their underwear, planning routes to work, the city’s attempts to keep moving during the Games have frightened droves of tourists into barely venturing out of the confines of the Olympic Park. If organisers don’t act [...]