Housing market ‘in limbo’ as London house prices drop 1.4 per cent October 16, 2019 London house prices booked a steep 1.4 per cent annual drop in August as UK house prices grew at a lower level than last year, according to the latest data. While UK house prices posted annual growth of 1.3 per cent to beat that of 0.8 per cent in July, growth dipped below last year’s [...]
Bank of England’s Mark Carney defends move not to publish governor shortlist October 15, 2019 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has defended the application process to lead the central bank and suggested that too much transparency would discourage people from applying. Carney is due to step down in January and MPs and pressure groups have called on chancellor Sajid Javid to publish the short list of candidates to allow [...]
UK recession fears ease as quarterly GDP growth beats Brexit concerns October 10, 2019 Fears of a Brexit-fuelled UK recession in the immediate future have eased, despite Britain’s economy shrinking 0.1 per cent in August. That is because Britain’s estimated GDP grew 0.3 per cent in the last three months, according to Office for National Statistics monthly data. Read more: New IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva says trade wars to [...]
Is Brexit making Britain a bargain for foreign investors? October 9, 2019 The pound has been one of the biggest casualties of Brexit so far. Sterling has lost around 10 per cent of its value against the US dollar and the euro since the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016 and shed 5 per cent versus the yen. It has lost over 16 per [...]
Sorrell’s S4 Capital buys Silicon Valley agency Firewood for $150m as digital drive deepens October 8, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital has bought digital marketing agency Firewood for $150m (£122.5m) as the ad veteran gears up for a further wave of acquisitions amid an aggressive growth strategy. Firewood, which is Silicon Valley’s largest independent agency, will merge with S4’s digital content division Mediamonks. Read more: S4 Capital sees earnings slip amid [...]
City Moves for 7 October – Who’s switching jobs at Equiteq, Festicket and Smith & Williamson? October 7, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Equiteq, Festicket and Smith & Williamson? Eqiteq Global investment bank Equiteq has appointed Sohail Ahmed as its new managing director. Based in London, Sohail will engage with the community of entrepreneurs and private equity transacting in the knowledge economy, as well as lead on investment banking project delivery. Sohail has extensive [...]
Real-life Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort reveals why the UK will survive Brexit October 4, 2019 The most remarkable thing about Jordan Belfort, the self-styled Wolf of Wall Street, is not his once-prodigious drug consumption or the Bacchanalian excess of his infamous company Stratton Oakmont – it’s his sheer, bloody-minded staying power. In his 56 years he’s experienced bankruptcy, drug addiction and incarceration, losing more money than most people could earn [...]
Apple rejects app that tracks Hong Kong protest locations October 3, 2019 Apple has rejected an app that helps people in Hong Kong track the location of police and protesters, according to the app’s developer. Read more: Hong Kong: Police charge teenage protester shot by officer The crowdsourced app, called HKmap Live, displays information about police patrols, tear gas use, metro closures and safe houses to help [...]
From big hitters to big quitters: Three FTSE resignations surprise the City October 2, 2019 A trio of City big-hitters shocked the Square Mile this morning after revealing plans to resign from their companies. Tesco boss Dave Lewis, Standard Life Aberdeen fund veteran Martin Gilbert and Metro Bank chairman Vernon Hill all said today that they will be leaving their posts. The triple-whammy of surprise announcements was met with mixed [...]
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis quits as supermarket declares turnaround ‘is complete’ October 2, 2019 Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis is stepping down from the Big Four supermarket, it revealed today as it declared its turnaround is complete. The CEO will leave the business next summer after chairman John Allan said he had accepted his resignation letter “with regret”. Read more: Tesco sells mortgage arm for £3.8bn Lewis called the [...]