Wages in public sector still beat private sector October 10, 2013 A NEW report published today reveals the gulf in wages between the public and private sectors, with government workers in some regions earning thousands more than their private counterparts every year. Despite the public sector pay freeze, think tank Policy Exchange says its calculations show that public sector salaries still outstrip their private sector equivalents [...]
A village in the heart of London October 10, 2013 It’s a tale of two towns with Clapham, but this new property in the Old Town allows residents to sample the best of both worlds CLAPHAM is the Dr Jekyll of south London districts. By day, it’s as genteel as you like. Well-to-do mothers crowd the streets, sipping good quality coffee while gently rocking babies [...]
Lenders fear bubble if UK does not get more houses October 8, 2013 MORTGAGE lenders yesterday warned house building levels are still dangerously low, as the government’s new Help to Buy scheme launched with the backing of five banks, including HSBC. The scheme gives a government guarantee to buyers with a small deposit saved up, making banks more willing to lend and increasing the range of mortgages on [...]
Great Portland hires new broker October 3, 2013 West End-focused property developer Great Portland Estates announced yesterday it has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch as joint corporate broker with immediate effect, working alongside the firm’s longstanding broker JP Morgan Cazenove. The company declined to comment further on the appointment.
Luxurious living locked-up at The Courthouse, Westminster September 26, 2013 Central London homes sit on historical site DEVELOPERS hope they have done justice to the site of a grand old courthouse with its new luxury development at the heart of London. The Courthouse, the latest premium scheme by Barratt London, is located in popular Westminster on the site of the City of Westminster Magistrates Court [...]
RBS’s mad rise and catastrophic fall can’t all be blamed on Fred Goodwin September 23, 2013 IN THE boom years at the start of the twenty-first century, the Royal Bank of Scotland management came up with a marketing slogan. They would – it promised customers and rivals – “Make It Happen”. In giant type, the words were emblazoned on airport billboards and printed on tons of promotional material. A four minute [...]
Mortgage rates could be on the rise September 17, 2013 With rising costs and house price highs spooking homebuyers, shop around for a good deal NEWS that house prices in England have hit record highs – now 0.9 per cent higher than their previous peak in January 2008 – has heightened fears that the government’s Help to Buy subsidised mortgage scheme is fuelling a housing [...]
Women more dangerous than men: The top 10 celebrity searches that infected PCs this year September 17, 2013 Lily Collins is now the most dangerous celebrity to search for online in 2013. Knocking Emma Watson off the top spot, internet security company McAfee has found that a search for the actress yields a one in seven chance of ending up on a malicious site. McAfee research found that searching for the latest Lily [...]
Innovation Diary: Three things we can learn from the high growth small business gazelles September 15, 2013 OVER 350,000 new firms have been launched in the UK this year, and confidence is rising. Aldermore Bank research, released on Friday, saw small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) confidence in the economy climb for the fourth consecutive quarter. Yet this tells us little about what it takes to succeed as a UK startup. As Mark [...]
Where to Drink September 12, 2013 From NYC to London EVERY so often in a major metropolitan centre, one venue will achieve supremacy as the foremost spot to see and be seen in, and Ian Schrager’s new hotel, nestled in Fitzrovia on Berners Street, bears all of the hallmarks of one such opening. Famed for founding the zeitgeisty Studio 54 in [...]