London landlords left £1,869 out of pocket as vacant rental properties take almost three weeks to fill May 13, 2016 LONDON landlords are typically left with a 20 day vacancy between tenants, often amounting to lost income of £1,869, new research has shown. Despite the highly competitive rental market in the capital, letting agents claim that it takes almost three weeks to fill a property in London, although this is still two days less than [...]
Carney ignites recession row with Brexit warning May 13, 2016 Bank of England governor Mark Carney sparked an intense political row yesterday after he said that a vote to leave the European Union could plunge Britain into recession. Former chancellor Lord Lamont slammed Carney’s “unwise” choice of words, while two Conservative members of the influential Treasury Select Committee – which is appointed by Parliament to [...]
City folks these days just want to start a family May 12, 2016 Even with their sky-high rents, crowded transport networks and lack of greenery, research out today has found that many people think major cities are the perfect place to start a family. The study by the international pensions unit of Allianz discovered that the birthrate in 41 major European and US cities is seven per cent higher than [...]
Good news for Liverpool fans: BT Sport and YouTube to stream Champions League and Europa League finals for free online May 12, 2016 BT Sport will stream the Champions League and Europa League finals live on YouTube, allowing millions of fans not subscribed to the TV channel to watch the games for free. The decision follows reports that Uefa is concerned with poor viewing figures for the first season of BT Sport's £897m deal which took European football away [...]
Private equity firms reportedly circling O2 after Three merger blocked May 12, 2016 Top private equity firms are circling O2 after Brussels yesterday blocked a billion pound takeover of the mobile network by Three owner Hutchison, according to reports. Apax Partners, CVC Capital and KKR are among firms to have held preliminary talks exploring a potential bid for Telefonica's O2, Sky reports. They join Liberty Global, the owner of Virgin Media [...]
London Stock Exchange chief pauses merger negotiations for Hollywood visit May 11, 2016 The London Stock Exchange’s chief executive, Xavier Rolet, took some time out from his busy schedule organising a merger with Deutsche Boerse on Wednesday morning to entertain a Hollywood star. Homeland star Damian Lewis opened the London Stock Exchange to mark the premiere of his new financial drama, Billions. Read more: Michael O'Leary says cyclists should be "shot" ahead [...]
The EU’s block of the O2-Three merger proves why we need to vote remain May 11, 2016 This morning, the European Competition Commission blocked the proposed merger of O2 and Three mobile. The £10.5bn deal, which would have created the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, was blocked on the grounds that it would have reduced competition and meant less choice for consumers. While the ruling was made at European level, the merger would [...]
How Benjamin Franklin and Martin McGuinness demonstrate why you should make love to your workplace enemies (not literally, of course) May 10, 2016 In the world of work, we often have an enemy. It could be our boss who hates us and gives us more work than the laws of physics allow. It could be that colleague who blocks everything we do or even think of doing. It could be the finance director who slashes our budget out of [...]
The case for buying emerging markets on dips May 10, 2016 The beautiful magnolia trees are blossoming, and we all know what that means. Bluer skies over London, happy dogs in the parks, and speculation picking up about whether we’ll see a repeat of the “sell in May” strategy. Last week ended with a thud after a much weaker-than-expected US April jobs report. As soon as [...]
UK banks set for US meeting to iron out Iran trade concerns May 9, 2016 Some of the biggest banks in the UK have been invited to meet US secretary of state John Kerry to discuss last year's lifting of economic sanctions on Iran. The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has circulated a note to members asking them to send senior representatives to a meeting with Kerry later this week. The [...]