London house prices up by 10 per cent in October and first-time buyers bear the brunt – Rightmove October 19, 2015 There's just no end to it. London house prices are 9.8 per cent higher than they were in October 2014, data released today by online property market Rightmove reveals. Nationally, house prices rose 5.6 per cent year-on-year with first-time buyer properties leading the way at 9.6 per cent. The number of properties coming to the London [...]
Investor feel-good factor made a return in October – Lloyds Bank October 19, 2015 Investor confidence picked up in October, according to research from Lloyds Bank. There was an improvement in eight out of 10 asset classes, although safe havens gold and UK government bonds saw a surprise dip in sentiment despite having the strongest performances. Overall investor net sentiment rose by four percentage points, taking it to an average [...]
Shoppers unfazed by market headwinds as confidence rises – Deloitte October 19, 2015 Optimism in the economy reached a four-year high in the third quarter, according to the latest consumer tracker from accountancy giant Deloitte. Consumer confidence rose by two percentage points to -7 per cent, from -5 per cent in the second quarter. Consumers were apparently unperturbed by the recent volatility global financial markets that saw the FTSE [...]
City Moves for 19 October 2015 | Who’s switching jobs October 18, 2015 BNP PARIBAS Wike Groenenberg has been appointed global head of emerging markets strategy at BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional Banking. She was previously head of strategy for BlueBay Asset Management’s emerging markets macro fund. Groenenberg has also headed emerging market strategy at Citigroup in London, managing a team of strategists in Europe, South Africa and [...]
Tax and ad-spend October 18, 2015 William Railton explores what the OECD’s BEPS proposals mean for marketers THE OECD has released its last pieces of guidance to governments on tackling corporate tax avoidance, and intellectual property is in the firing line. The final Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) report calls for multinationals to provide more information about their “intangible” assets, [...]
The ultimate connection: Hyperoptic’s Dana Tobak on recalcitrant councils and politics in taxis October 18, 2015 The thing some have been slow to come to terms with is that BT is not the only solution," says Dana Tobak, when I ask her what the UK is doing wrong when it comes to internet provision. Tobak co-founded fibre-based internet service provider Hyperoptic in 2011. She and business partner Boris Ivanovic, who she [...]
London can revive its industry and double house-building by getting creative with its space October 18, 2015 The average Briton spends eight hours and 41 minutes using digital devices each day, according to Ofcom – more than they sleep. It is therefore little surprise that we are also the biggest online shoppers in Europe, and this rapid growth in e-commerce partly explains London’s resurgent industrial sheds market, required to stock goods. Transactions [...]
Xi Jinping: Britain has made “visionary” progress to strengthen ties with China October 18, 2015 China’s president Xi Jinping has called the UK’s ambitions to become China’s best partner in the West a “visionary and strategic choice”, as his state visit to the UK draws near. The visit, which officially begins on Tuesday, will be Xi’s first time in the UK in over two decades. It’s been described by officials [...]
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver says China’s economy is unlikely to suffer a “hard landing” despite slowdown fears October 16, 2015 HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver has said China is unlikely to have a "hard landing", despite mounting concern over the strength of its economy. "The fears for China's economy are overplayed. I do not believe China will have a hard landing," Gulliver said in a speech today. "The last few months have obviously been difficult… (But) the [...]
Looking beyond London: These are the five best cities to buy property in right now October 16, 2015 When considering real estate investment opportunities, people normally think of western cities like London and New York. But by dong so, they could lose out – emerging cities across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are filled with openings that could bring great rewards. Based on market trends, infrastructure developments and commercial, residential [...]