Sky’s going big on virtual reality with VR studio and plans for Formula 1, boxing, cycling content and more March 17, 2016 Sky is deepening its efforts in virtual reality, an industry expected to be worth $70bn by 2020, with a specialist studio producing new content, including films from the Formula 1 racetrack. Viewers will be able to almost smell the petrol of the pit and experience the hair-raising bends of a Grand Prix track as if they [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne’s speech in full March 16, 2016 George Osborne has just revealed the Budget for 2016. There was good news for businesses with corporation tax being sliced and business rates being reformed – but bad news for smokers and students who hate maths. Mr Deputy Speaker, Today I report on an economy set to grow faster than any other major advanced economy in [...]
Seven years of quantitative easing and 0.5 per cent interest rates by the Bank of England: Who are the winners and losers? March 3, 2016 This Saturday will mark seven years since the Bank of England enacted its historic quantitative easing programme, and cut the UK’s main interest rate to 0.5 per cent, in a bid to save it from the financial crisis which was then tearing across the globe. Just like any other policy, it has thrown up winners and losers. Investors who [...]
London risks taking its global status for granted if housing crisis carries on unabated and cost of living continues to rise March 2, 2016 It's awards season, and from the Oscars to the Grammys gongs are being handed out left, right and centre. It’s an opportune time, therefore, to reflect on the accolades bestowed recently on our capital city. London cleaned up last year, taking the top spot in a clutch of surveys including EY’s European Attractiveness Survey, MasterCard’s [...]
London’s housing market is failing the capital’s workers: We can’t make this crisis someone else’s problem March 1, 2016 With house prices a staggering 13 times the average London wage, and rents taking up on average 60 per cent of London tenants' incomes, the prospect of finding an affordable place to live is slipping further out of reach for many of the capital’s four million-strong workforce. As the housing crisis deepens, workers from across the [...]
Memo from business to politicians: Don’t let the EU referendum paralyse real governing February 24, 2016 So now it’s official. Britain’s politicians and opinion-formers will spend the next four months in hyper-drive, as they seek to convince the public of the case to leave or remain in the European Union. Many Westminster-watchers have already cleared the decks, reasoning that little else will get done while megaphone diplomacy, claims, and counter-claims dominate the [...]
London house prices: Londoners need a 266 per cent pay rise to be able to afford a property in the capital February 23, 2016 Londoners need a 266 per cent pay rise to be able to afford a mortgage on a home in the capital, a leading industry body has claimed, painting a bleak picture for prospective buyers. The National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents affordable housing providers, said the average London home now costs £526,085 – more than [...]
The planning profession needs love too: It is seen as an obstacle to overcome – but it’s a positive guide to development February 19, 2016 Planning underpins our daily lives. From the houses we live in to the offices in which we work, or the streets that we walk down every day. It is the glue that binds together the entire property sector – a tool used by people and politicians alike to shape the built environment, as well as [...]
UK housing crisis: The next problem area will be retirement homes February 17, 2016 Talk of the housing crisis conjures up images of first time buyers trapped by sky high prices, as their income is syphoned off into rent. But alongside the cash-strapped "generation rent", there's another age group at risk: the next crisis may well be in retirement homes. At the heart of the difficulties in residential care lies [...]
Westminster goes to war on sugary drinks tax as Tory-linked think tanks take opposing views on new levy February 10, 2016 Policy experts with strong ties to the Conservative party are at odds over proposals for a new sugary drinks tax, with one influential think tank saying today that the new levy should be introduced as part of a series of measures to curb rising levels of obesity. In a new report out today, Policy Exchange [...]