Standard Life Investments to vote both ways on Shell takeover of BG January 11, 2016 A top City investor is voting in favour of Royal Dutch Shell’s £36bn takeover of BG group, despite publicly criticising the deal for months. Standard life investments will use its 1.3 per cent stake in BG to support the takeover at a shareholder meeting at the end of this month. The move, first reported by Sky [...]
Bottoms Up: Coq d’Argent owner D&D London toasts jump in Christmas sales January 11, 2016 D&D London, the restaurant and hotel empire behind the City’s Coq D’argent and South Place Hotel, has posted a jump in sales over Christmas as diners popped open the champagne. The company, which is mulling a stock market float, said UK like-for-like sales jumped by 4.2 per cent in December. Underlying sales for the nine months [...]
The rise of the talking head: why City experts are taking over our TV screens and it’s not just back-to-back suits January 11, 2016 By eight o’clock on a typical Monday morning Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank, will have been at her desk for nearly two hours preparing for her clients and keeping an eye on the markets. She will also have had to squeeze in a couple of live interviews, providing expert commentary for broadcasters from [...]
The highest flyer: Harriet Green talks Everest, flying cars and building a hi-tech business aged 18 with Gilo Cardozo January 11, 2016 To tell the truth, drones don’t really interest me at all – I like manned aircraft,” says Gilo Cardozo, founder of aviation firm Gilo Industries. He’s not being flippant – he’s got an army of specialist engineers working on engines for unmanned aircraft – but someone so passionate about his work can afford to be slightly [...]
Guys & Dolls theatre review: A charming revival of a bona fide classic January 8, 2016 Savoy Theatre | ★★★★☆ The last play to grace the stage of The Savoy was Gypsy, where Imelda Staunton gave a rip-roaring, throat-shredding performance that’s likely to go down in theatre legend. It was always going to be a tough act to follow, but with the Chichester Festival’s revival of Guys and Dolls, we’re safely cosseted [...]
Focus On Croydon: The affordable South London hotspot that’s getting a £1bn facelift January 8, 2016 If there’s one thing we learnt from the London property market in 2015, it was not to underestimate the outer boroughs. Some of the largest house price growth increases were to be found in these supposed backwaters. Growth in places like Haringey and Hillingdon far outstripped traditionally prime areas like Kensington & Chelsea and Camden, [...]
The Treasury could be about to return £17bn of Bradford and Bingley assets to private ownership January 6, 2016 A sizable part of the Bradford and Bingley (B&B) mortgage book could be about to be sold off in what could be the biggest ever sale of financial assets by a British government. The government is reportedly working on plans to offload a £17bn tranche of the bailed out mortgage lender. A spokesperson for UK [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is finally sitting down with Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Carolyn Fairbairn January 4, 2016 Jeremy Corbyn will finally meet with one of Britain's biggest business groups this week, nearly four months after he was elected as Labour leader. Corbyn is scheduled to sit down with Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Carolyn Fairbairn within days, Sky News first reported this morning. Corbyn drew sharp criticism when he declined an invitation to address [...]
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under fire as MPs on Treasury Select Committee call for hearing over decision to scrap banking culture review January 4, 2016 Leading MPs have slammed the City watchdog over its decision to drop a review into Britain’s banking culture, raising the possibility of an imminent public grilling of top regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed last week that it had scrapped plans for an inquiry into the culture and behaviour of British bank employees, saying that [...]
UK weather New Year’s Eve 2015: Prepare for a cold and frosty night after storm Frank but clear skies for fireworks December 30, 2015 The unusually warm temperatures felt throughout December will be replaced by cold and even frost over New Year's after storm Frank. Temperatures could fall to their lowest this month after several balmy December days as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, even hitting the minus figures further north. The remnants of storm Frank will [...]