Inflation: a crippling tax on savings July 13, 2010 INFLATION did fall in June but once again it was a case of too little, too late. Consumer price inflation (CPI)?dipped to 3.2 per cent, reflecting a slowdown in fuel costs; yet that remains higher than the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target (and 1-3 per cent band). The retail price index, the older, [...]
City property deals top £1bn during last quarter, thanks to foreign buyers July 12, 2010 OVERSEAS investors looking for stable assets ratcheted the value of commercial property deals in the City by 57 per cent to £1.1bn in the last quarter, according to research published yesterday. A further £1.1bn worth of property in the Square Mile and Docklands is under offer with sales set for the third quarter of 2010, [...]
Luxury shops in boost from Indian spend July 12, 2010 THE number of luxury goods purchased by Indian shoppers visiting the UK in June surged by 89 per cent compared with the same month last year, according to a retail survey. The figures, compiled through a poll of 15,000 businesses, reveals the extent to which high street spending is fuelled by foreign spending power. According [...]
SMEs will save the UK… but my kids are all learning Spanish just in case July 12, 2010 WOL KOLADE, managing partner at Isis, is worried. The future of private equity – and the UK economy as a whole – is at a turning point, he says, and he’s not sure which way things will go. And when Kolade worries, people should listen – he knows what he is talking about. He joined [...]
Lord Levene’s bank eyes up online assets July 11, 2010 LORD Levene and Sir David Walker’s new high street bank plans to scour the market for potential online banking acquisitions after initially launching a bid for a retail branch network. NewBank, which does not yet have an official name, is currently eyeing up state-owned assets put on the block by Lloyds Banking Group and Northern [...]
Battle of the banks July 8, 2010 SOME OF the City’s most powerful names are gearing up for an almighty bidding battle over state-controlled banking assets including Northern Rock and parts of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene and City grandee Sir David Walker will take on Richard Branson’s Virgin money in a fight to create a new nationwide [...]
Advisers will get a slice of the limelight July 8, 2010 ADVISING on Lord Levene and Sir David Walker’s new retail bank is a particularly lucrative piece of business for Cenkos and Kinmont, who have already been hard at work preparing the team for what one insider described as “a pugnacious couple of months” ahead. Cenkos corporate broker Paul Hodges has so far been instrumental in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 8, 2010 Jones Lang LaSalle The property-focused financial and professional services firm has appointed James Brown from Grosvenor as its new head of retail research and consultancy for the EMEA region. Brown is currently UK director of research at Grosvenor, where he is responsible for property market forecasting and analysis of demand, supply and values, local market [...]
Primark fuels sales rise at ABF July 8, 2010 PRIMARK owner Associated British Foods said third quarter sales rose 13 per cent and expected very strong growth in annual earnings, driven by its fashion discount retailer. The London-based food and retail group, giving a third quarter trading update for the 16 weeks to June 19, also said group revenue for the year so far, [...]
FORMULA ONE CHIEF UNLEASHES TAX FURY July 7, 2010 WITH all the hubbub about capital gains tax rates in the run-up to the recent Budget, investors are no stranger to vituperative attacks on their profits, but it does come as a surprise when the abuse comes from someone who’s supposed to be on their own side. The latest high-profile character to get vocal about [...]