Tips from business, suppliers and buyers on getting your product noticed September 22, 2016 If there's one thing we’ve learned since Brexit, it’s that the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) always have big ambitions. No one ever said it was easy. Some of Britain’s largest and most influential businesses started out with nothing but an idea. Often, the most successful had very little initial investment, but made up [...]
UK wealth inequality is widening as climbing house prices due to quantitative easing drive home ownership down – Standard & Poor’s February 10, 2016 While quantitative easing (QE) may have helped to stabilise the UK economy, it has also led to a wider gulf between rich and poor, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P) – and it has also pushed home ownership even farther out of reach for younger people. QE has exacerbated wealth disparity by boosting financial asset and [...]
Fast sell-off could be on the cards for 1950s-style casual restaurant chain Ed’s Easy Diner October 8, 2016 Casual dining chain Ed's Easy Diner could imminently be sold off in a quickie sale for as little as £15m, according to reports. The hard-and-fast sale will probably take the form of a pre-pack administration could be announced in the coming days after the group suffered a trading slump over the summer, sources told The [...]
UK house prices: Home ownership is a distant dream even for middle England December 20, 2015 Almost half of people who don't own their own home believe they never will as the time needed to save for a deposit hits an astonishing 24 years. Even a quarter of the richest of non-home owners think they will never get a foot on the first rung of the property ladder, new research reveals. "Low to middle [...]
Buy to let tax changes: Why a landlord exodus remains unlikely March 16, 2016 The growth of buy-to-let has been among the defining characteristics of the post-crisis mortgage market. Council of Mortgage Lenders figures released this month show that lending to landlords accounted for 17 per cent of all new loans in the third quarter of 2015. With rising property prices, meanwhile, property consultants Savills estimated last year that [...]
The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is boosting high loan-to-value lending December 17, 2015 The government's Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, which offers greater protection for lenders, is boosting high loan-to-value (LTV) lending, according to new figures released today. The number of mortgage deals offering loans equal to 95 per cent of the value of a property climbed to 260 in November, the data from mortgage insurer Genworth [...]
SMMT reveals bumper used cars sales in first half of 2016 but remains cautious about further growth August 23, 2016 There was the highest number of used car sales on record in the first of half this year according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The number of used cars changing hands grew by 7.9 per cent in the first six months of 2016 and during the second quarter of the year [...]
Twitter shares are flying on these latest takeover reports October 5, 2016 Twitter shares have taken off again after fresh reports emerged on the progress of potential sale of a the struggling social network. Shares shot up more than four per cent touching as high a $24.83 in early trading in New York, after it was reported that bids for the company could begin as soon as this week. [...]
Mortgage lending hits post-recession high of £220bn in 2015 January 21, 2016 Mortgage lending rose by eight per cent last year compared with the year before, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said this morning. Lenders approved £19.9bn of home loans in December, taking the 2015 total to £220.3bn – the highest annual figure since 2008. December's lending figure was slightly down on November, but was 23 per [...]
Say what? It turns out the London doesn’t have the world’s most unaffordable homes – Hong Kong does January 26, 2016 First-time buyers across the London may be struggling to get their hands on a property – but it turns out we don't have the world's most unaffordable homes. That dubious accolade belongs to Hong Kong, where the average home is 19 times people's annual incomes – compared to just 8.5 times in London. Pah. The figures were [...]