Weak Europe knocks firms in the capital December 4, 2011 OPTIMISM about the state of the economy has plummeted among London’s businesses, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) bi-yearly business prospects survey showed today. Most firms – 55 per cent – cited the threat of a double-dip recession over the next year as their major concern. Only 13 per cent of firms in the capital [...]
Keep a new Heathrow runway on the table December 4, 2011 GRIDLOCK is often the outcome of public sector walkouts so we can be grateful that last week’s strikes did not, as feared, severely impact upon Heathrow. Civil servants and others stepped in to prevent the lengthy queues and angry scenes that would have damaged our international reputation with both tourists and businesses. As a world-leading [...]
Five reasons why Hampstead is still tops December 1, 2011 1.HISTORY To live in Hampstead is to share cobbled streets and gourmet bakeries with the likes of Emma Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole and Judy Dench. But the village’s place in the literary canon makes it one of the most historically evocative places in London. Keats lived next to South End Green, while an epic [...]
ANALYSIS l SOME OF THE PROJECTS November 29, 2011 SCOTLAND ■ Rail, roads, local transport, water, flood and waste powers all devolved Edinburgh: Super-connected city funding NORTHERN IRELAND ■ Transport, energy, water, flood and waste powers all devolved ■ Belfast: Super-connected city funding NORTH WEST ■ Mersey Gateway Bridge ■ Manchester Cross City Bus ■ Reinstating Todmorden Curve WEST MIDLANDS ■ Evesham Bridge Maintenance [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? November 29, 2011 PWC’S BUDGET TEAM SAYS: The restricted rises in tube fares will help Catherine’s travel costs and so too will the fuel duty increases being less than expected. The bank levy increase from 1 January 2012 may hit Catherine’s clients in the financial services sector although they will be buoyed by the chancellor George Osborne’s reluctance [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW IMPORTANT IS TOURISM TO THE LONDON ECONOMY? November 23, 2011 DAVID WHITE | MIZUHO “It’s very important, because everything else in the economy is a bit of a state. I think it should be interesting enough to attract people without the government promoting it, though.” MICHAEL PORTER | DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS “There is big money there, billions. It may get crowded, and public transport may [...]
Traders’ fears heard as court hearing slated for December November 23, 2011 TRADERS in Paternoster Square have seen customer numbers slump by up to 90 per cent, according to City of London papers published yesterday. Businesses in the part of the square that has been cordoned off are experiencing the heaviest losses, with stores in St Paul’s Churchyard also suffering, albeit less, because of safety concerns and [...]
Build a path to navigate your way back to black November 23, 2011 It’s financial planning week – so take steps to economic security by setting a budget and making a habit of saving LARGE numbers of people in the capital face an uncertain future, particularly when it comes to their retirement. That’s according to the fourth annual financial planning survey, commissioned for UK financial planning week by [...]
A weekend in Johannesburg November 20, 2011 THERE’S too much history in this town.” So says my tour guide Zac as we speed away from Johannesburg airport. He’s not wrong. Just 125 years old, South Africa’s largest city has developed as though on steroids. The often bloody events that mark its relatively short lifetime read like those of a much older city. [...]
The City’s young and politically active November 16, 2011 CV | SOPHIE FERNANDES, AGE 29 Work: I’m an account manager for an independent communications agency. I look after a mixture of private sector corporate, trade association and public sector clients. Previously, I worked for the Institute of Directors in the Policy Unit. Became common councilman because:I wanted to be directly involved in local democracy [...]