Tick tock you don’t stop November 6, 2013 Robin Swithinbank is seduced by full calendar watches that won’t need adjusting for a century or more A perpetual calendar watch, that will give you the correct date without adjusting for the next hundred years or more, is the ultimate prestige item, says Robin Swithinbank Not every watch aficionado appreciates a date window on a [...]
Aviva eyes Asian expansion with Indonesian deal July 28, 2013 BRITISH insurance giant Aviva is considering expanding its Asian business in partnership with a division of conglomerate Jardine Matheson, it was reported yesterday. New chief executive Mark Wilson is in early stage talks with Indonesian automobile sales group Astra International about a potential tie-up, according to the Sunday Telegraph. This could then lead to similar [...]
Tory chair Shapps wants to make the UK love capitalism October 13, 2013 Cutting the jobs tax will help UK Plc WHEN Grant Shapps was appointed Conservative party chairman last autumn, one of his first acts was to install a giant clock counting down to the 2015 general election. He wanted to focus party workers on the challenge ahead and now – with polling stations opening in just 18 [...]
Any Other Business – 14/08 August 13, 2013 ■ It’s barely 24 hours since BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman shocked middle Britain with his Twitter-trending facial hair, but bookies are already taking bets on how long the interviewer’s designer stubble will last. Ladbrokes is offering 4/5 odds-on that Paxman’s beard sees out the week – while punters who think he’ll go for a [...]
How hidden taxes and levies are pushing up UK house prices July 21, 2013 BRITAIN’S housing market is broken: inane planning rules mean that not enough new homes are being built. Growing demand (in part bolstered artificially by the coalition’s silly funding for lending and help to buy policies) combined with a supply that is growing only feebly is pushing up prices in and around London and risks turning [...]
All taxpayers should have a chance to benefit from the Lloyds privatisation September 17, 2013 THE SUCCESSFUL sale of 6 per cent of Lloyds to institutional shareholders was a crucial first step in returning the bank to full private ownership. That the government has been able to obtain a price above the initial purchase price – and well above the price in the national accounts – is particularly positive. Indeed, [...]
Lloyds reprivatisation expected to raise over £3.2bn September 16, 2013 A statement from the government agency managing the state's stake in Lloyds has given the green light to the chancellor to begin reprivatising state-backed bank Lloyds. UK Financial Investments (UKFI) has given the nod shortly after the Office for Fair Trading said that TSB should be given more financial help by parent Lloyds. Our banking [...]
UBS expects to report forecast-beating second quarter profits July 22, 2013 Swiss bank UBS estimates its net profit in the second quarter of 2013 was up 62 per cent to CHF690m (£480m) – above analyst expectations of a 31 per cent rise to CHF558m. Its pre-tax operating profit is estimated to be CHF1.02bn (release). UBS’s wealth management unit – the focus of recent efforts to streamline [...]
The veteran who is back doing deals | City A.M. October 7, 2013 Mike Slade speaks to Kasmira Jefford as he nears 30 years at the helm of property company Helical Bar MY INTERVIEWEE is twenty minutes late when he arrives for our meeting at Helical Bar’s headquarters, tucked away in a quiet street off Mayfair’s Berkeley square. Mike Slade, a tall 67-year-old sweeps in, all apologies (“Darling, [...]
The veteran who is back doing deals October 6, 2013 Mike Slade speaks to Kasmira Jefford as he nears 30 years at the helm of property company Helical Bar MY INTERVIEWEE is twenty minutes late when he arrives for our meeting at Helical Bar’s headquarters, tucked away in a quiet street off Mayfair’s Berkeley square. Mike Slade, a tall 67-year-old sweeps in, all apologies (“Darling, [...]