PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 9, 2010 NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER AT SPARK Albion Ventures has been appointed the investment manager of SPARK VCT and SPARK VCT 2, both technology venture capital investment funds. SPARK is planning to move its fund management focus away from retail funds and towards regional and institutional funds, and is bringing in a new manager to try to achieve that. They also [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]
FTSE closes up but US uncertainty weighs on Wall Street December 9, 2010 LONDON’S FTSE 100 closed above 5,800 today for only the second time in almost a month, pushed up by financial services firms. Barclays, RBS and the Prudential were among the biggest gainers, while energy firm BG also rose more than three per cent and services firms Serco and BT also made the top ten. HSBC [...]
Roll up for a host of new hot openings December 8, 2010 THERE have been a number of bar openings dotted around the capital in recent weeks. The iconic Oxo Tower (www.harveynichols.com/restaurants/oxo-tower-london) has seen the launch of its new bar with stunning views across the Thames to St Pauls and beyond. The impressive space mixes classic cruise liner-esque lines with modern touches provided by designer Shaun Clarkson, [...]
BORIS FUND BREAKFAST CLUB MEETS AT SAVOY December 7, 2010 LONDON mayor Boris Johnson played host to a star-studded launch for the corporate sponsors of the charitable Mayor’s Fund for London yesterday morning, with grandees of the City treated to an 8am poached egg and salmon breakfast in return for their paid-up membership of the London Business Club – an organisation for fund donors. The [...]
Receding fears over Eurozone debt levels hand FTSE a boost December 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, buoyed by oil stocks after crude reached a two-year peak, while banks fell on fears over Eurozone debt as EU ministers met to discuss ways of preventing debt contagion. The FTSE 100 ended up 24.96 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher at 5,770.28, for its highest close since [...]
Bloomberg asks Foster to design its new London HQ at Walbrook Square December 6, 2010 BLOOMBERG, the financial media giant, yesterday said it had reached an agreement with Legal & General for the purchase of the Walbrook Square site to build a new European headquarters located in the heart of the City. Bloomberg will construct two new buildings, one that will contain in excess of 500,000 square feet and one [...]
London seventh cheapest city in Europe, survey says December 5, 2010 LONDON has seen price increases across a number of consumer goods, according to a survey released yesterday. The cost of books, coffee, condoms and digital cameras rocketed between 2009 and this year, said Price Runner, a shopping comparison website. In 2007 the UK’s capital was the second most expensive city in the world, but a [...]
ANGER OVER COST OF SNOW FIASCO December 2, 2010 THE COST to the UK economy of the mounting chaos bought by the snow and unseasonally cold temperatures could be as much as £1.2bn a day, it was claimed yesterday. As the seventh day of the cold snap saw the disruption reach the south-east of England, with more than six inches of snow falling overnight, [...]
Snow chaos is turning UK into a joke December 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S humiliating inability to cope with winter conditions is becoming almost unbearable. Heavy snowfall is not a freak event. It now happens every year – and yet the authorities and transport companies appear utterly unable to learn any meaningful lesson from the annual debacle that is the onset of snow and bad weather. It is [...]