What the other papers say this morning – 14 August 2013 August 13, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES EU pushes single market in telecoms Brussels’ top competition authority has called for 28 national telecoms regulators to be replaced by a single pan-European watchdog. The report from commissioner Joaquin Almunia criticises EU telecoms chief Neelie Kroes for lacking ambition in her plan to create a single telecoms market. Kroes hopes her proposals [...]
Innovation Diary: The Valley vs the Roundabout: London is starting to close the gap August 11, 2013 WHEN I met David Richards – the British founder of Silicon Valley success story WANDisco – last year, I asked him whether he thought London’s Silicon Roundabout could compete with its San Francisco equivalent. Richards replied: “It would be ridiculous to contrast the two.” Richards – who recently brought his product development team from the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 9 August 2013 August 8, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Norway’s oil fund plans to turn active Norway’s $760bn (£489bn) oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is stepping up its efforts to be a more active investor by appointing a corporate governance advisory board. Having quadrupled in size in the past eight years, the vehicle is seeking to play a bigger [...]
Owners of Lion King venue the Lyceum weigh up an exit plan July 25, 2013 THE LYCEUM Theatre, current home of West End smash The Lion King, could be in line for new owners after its private equity backers started exploring plans to exit the theatre business. Exponent Private Equity, the UK mid-market buyout shop, is thought to have appointed UBS to explore options for its stake in portfolio company [...]
West End boosts Great Portland July 25, 2013 Great Portland Estates yesterday said its portfolio rose by 3.3 per cent in value to £2.37bn in the second quarter as demand for office space in central London continued “unabated”. The developer, which owns swathes of property in the West End, saw its net asset value grow by four per cent to 464p per share [...]
Reach new heights July 25, 2013 Growing pressure on open spaces in the capital has created a surge of interest in properties with roof terraces. Naomi Mdudu rounds up the best on the market. Kensington Roof Gardens, Boundary, Soho House: us Londoners are suckers for a rooftop terrace. Great views over the city and a relaxing spot to indulge in a [...]
Elephant & Castle gets a lick of paint July 25, 2013 One The Elephant is the new development at the heart of the area’s regeneration, promising affordable living in Zone 1 One The Elephant is the latest big tower on the London skyline. When complete, the 37-storey building, which is designed by award winning architects Squire and Partners, will offer 254 new homes, from studios through [...]
Walkie-Talkie awaits more calls July 17, 2013 PROPERTY giant Land Securities said yesterday that it expects the Walkie-Talkie skyscraper to be two thirds let by its completion next year, in a sign of growing confidence in the market. The City office market has seen a pick-up in leasing activity in the past year as companies who had previously shelved plans rushed to [...]
Davenport Lyons to move offices July 17, 2013 Davenport Lyons has decided to move to new offices in the West End despite an exodus of law firms moving out of the district in search of cheaper rents and bigger office space. The company has taken 31,500 square feet of space over three floors at 6 Agar Street in Covent Garden and will move [...]
Mark Carney should learn from the failure of the Soviet shoe industry July 4, 2013 GROWING up in the West in the 1980s, new Bank of England governor Mark Carney was almost certainly inundated with stories about how the Soviet Union was not only an odious regime, but how even the possibly well-intentioned aspects of Soviet central planning inevitably resulted in sub-optimal economic outcomes. A classic example was shoes. Absent [...]