London house prices edged closer to £500,000 in November January 17, 2017 The average house price in the capital edged closer to the half a million pound mark in November, rising to £482,000 for the first time. Figures published this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed house prices in the capital jumped 8.1 per cent in the year to November, rising 1.9 per cent [...]
Metro Bank gets down to business, planning to increase its number of in-store managers by around a third January 17, 2017 Business banking is booming for Metro Bank, so much so that the challenger plans to increase the number of business bankers in its branches by around a third, or 30 per cent, in 2017. The bank, which opened its first branch in 2010, recently announced it was putting £1bn to one side to support business customers [...]
Angry Birds makes post-Brexit London happy as Rovio opens games studio January 16, 2017 Rovio, the maker of hit game Angry Birds, has landed in London and will set up a new games studio in the capital bringing with it at least 20 new jobs. Hot on the heels of Snap, which last week unveiled plans for its growth in London, it's another stamp of approval for UK tech after the [...]
Burberry confirmed its new chief executive Marco Gobbetti is set to head the company from July January 16, 2017 Burberry today confirmed Marco Gobbetti is set to become the boss of the company this summer as part of the company's ongoing restructuring drive. Gobbetti is slated to join the luxury brand as executive chairman of Asia Pacific and Middle East on 27 January until 4 July. From 5 July, he will join the board and take on his role [...]
Guy Hands’s private equity firm resumes dividend January 15, 2017 Terra Firma Capital Partners saw pre-tax profits in the year to March 2016 fall to £2.4 million while revenue dropped to its lowest since 2012. The private equity firm, which had previously ended its dividend payouts, provided £3.5 million in dividends to Guy Hands, who acts as the fund’s chairman. The fund includes one of [...]
Burberry leads another week of key retail updates January 15, 2017 British fashion house Burberry is widely expected to report an uplift in sales this week after the fall in the value of the pound made its products more attractive to foreign buyers. Burberry posts its third quarter trading update on Wednesday, and Barclays analysts have predicted the company will announce a like-for-like sales increase of two per [...]
Are we more or less happy after the Brexit vote? January 15, 2017 The unexpected and shock result of the vote to leave Europe is just one of the events that has in recent months illustrated an increasingly divided world. But, in this new territory of uncertain times, fake news, and where it sometime feels like up is down and black is white, just what effect is that having on [...]
Interiors: Laura Ivill tours Beau House, the St James’s scheme promoting British art and design January 13, 2017 As London Fashion Week Men’s drew to a close last week, with its global celebration of Savile Row and Jermyn Street style, all eyes were on St James’s. This historic quarter, based around St James’s Square and bordering Green Park and St James’s Park, is undergoing a £500m redevelopment by The Crown Estate, joined by [...]
The reading recommendations of today’s corporate titans January 12, 2017 What makes successful people successful? The world’s top entrepreneurs, chief executives and entertainment elite come from all walks of life, so perhaps – good fortune aside – it’s the way they think which propels them above the competition and to the top of their respective fields. The books high achievers choose to read can offer [...]
Now the Tories give run around on immigration January 11, 2017 Making a mess of immigration policy isn't an endeavour restricted to the Labour party. As much as we enjoyed their festival of confusion yesterday regarding the free movement of workers, the Tories have now given us a clear reminder that politicians of all stripes are capable of getting tangled up in this sensitive area of policy. [...]