From stamp duty to the triple lock, Andy Haldane says bold Burnham leadership can usher ‘vibe change’ for UK economy
Commercial property sector sees growing signs of improvement January 20, 2010 THE hard-hit commercial property sector is finally showing signs of life, according to a new survey from the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published today. In London, the amount of office space available to tenants in London declined for the first time in two years and rents are no longer expected to fall in [...]
Flat sales dog SAB Miller as volumes wane January 19, 2010 Brewing giant SABMiller yesterday reported flat underlying beer volumes for the third quarter as subdued consumer spending continued to take the fizz out of its sales. Shares in the London-listed company ended the day more than two per cent down on the news that volumes for the three months to the end of December were [...]
Weak pound fuels London sales boost January 18, 2010 SHOP sales in the capital soared over Christmas as tourists and Londoners embarked on spending sprees. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that in London sales jumped 12 per cent in December – the best performance since it started publishing the figures in 2002. Visitors from Europe, China and the Middle East hit the shops, [...]
Travelport in pole position in float queue January 17, 2010 TRAVELPORT looks set to become the most expensive company to float on the stock exchange in two years. It will be amongst the first in a slew of companies seeking an IPO in the coming months. The airline and hotel reservations firm, which operates in 160 countries, has plans for flotation in London and hopes [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 13, 2010 Smith & Williamson The professional services group has appointed Vivienne Oliver as an associate director in its restructuring and recovery services team. An 18-year veteran of Ernst & Young, where she worked on formal appointments, divestments, restructurings and wind-ups of investment trusts and funds, Oliver also formerly worked as a director at Baker Tilly. She [...]
UK Plc has much to learn from Tesco January 12, 2010 NAPOLEON Bonaparte was right: Britain is a nation of shopkeepers. Tesco’s great figures yesterday confirm that the retailer remains one of the UK’s few truly world-class corporate giants. Group sales increased by 7.5 per cent at constant exchange rates and like-for-like UK sales (ex-fuel and adjusted for Vat) were up by 4.9 per cent in [...]
Debenhams caught in icy blast from shareholders January 12, 2010 THE cold snap wasn’t quite over for high street stalwart Debenhams at its annual general meeting yesterday as the board came under fire from beleaguered shareholders keen to know when their pockets would be padded with dividends once again. At the company’s London-based meeting, chairman John Lovering worked hard to reassure investors that the company [...]
Clegg calls for break-up of biggest City banks January 11, 2010 LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg will try to break up large banks like Barclays and HSBC if he finds himself in government after the next election. “The age of universal banking has to come to an end,” Clegg said as he launched his general election campaign yesterday. Asked if he was making an implicit threat [...]
Strength in energy issues is offset by weakness in miners January 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended flat yesterday with strength in energy issues countering a sell-off in miners, weak financial issues and uncertain progress on Wall Street. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 3.83 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,538.07, having touched a 16-month intraday peak of 5,600.48 early in the session. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 10, 2010 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph GOOGLE BOSS WARNS UK OVER DEBT MOUNTAIN The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, has given warning to the UK and other western governments that reducing their massive deficits will be far harder than in America because of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. PET CHAIN SUITORS GIVEN [...]