Tube set to open all night on Fridays and Saturdays November 21, 2013 THE TUBE will keep running through the night at weekends from 2015, in a plan hailed by firms as changing the face of London’s night-time economy. However, unions threatened strike action after TfL announced alongside the night Tube that it was scrapping ticket office staff. Mayor Boris Johnson said London will be “a city fit [...]
US home builder confidence holds steady in November despite economic uncertainty November 18, 2013 US home builders are continuing to have a rough time of it. The National Associtation of Homebuilders (NAHB) housing market index was flat in November, at 54, from 54 in October, which was revised down from 55. Confidence in the sector remains low amid rising construction costs, and the index continues to be at the lowest [...]
The Butler is classy – but too eager to teach November 14, 2013 FILM THE BUTLER Cert 12a | Three stars THE Butler examines African-Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the 20th century through events in the life of White House butler Cecil Gaines, who served seven presidents, from Eisenhower to Reagan. It is essentially Forrest Gump, with moral didacticism instead of heart-warming whimsy. It is clear from [...]
City Moves for 05 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 4, 2013 RBS The bank’s real estate management division, part of its global restructuring group, has announced the hire of Jessica Way as a senior asset manager. She was most recently at Aviva Investors, where she was a real estate asset manager for its property trust. Chadbourne & Parke The advisory firm has recruited Nikolai Mikhailov as an [...]
Accountants call for tax amnesty to raise £17bn for state coffers October 8, 2013 CRACKDOWNS on tax evaders are not working and should be replaced with an amnesty, accountancy firm Crowe Clark Whitehill (CCW) argues in a new report out today. The group estimates more than £17bn is lost to the taxman each year, £12.95bn from accidental or careless evasion and £4.89bn through deliberate evasion. It argues an amnesty [...]
Nationalised rail company returns £208m to the taxpayer October 8, 2013 Directly Operated Railways has returned £208.7m to the taxpayer after a huge increase in revenues. DOR, a holding company setup by the Department of Transport, took over the running of the London-Scotland route four years ago. Turnover has increased 4.2 per cent to £693.8m, total ticket sales were also up by 4.2 per cent. It [...]
RBS’s mad rise and catastrophic fall can’t all be blamed on Fred Goodwin September 23, 2013 IN THE boom years at the start of the twenty-first century, the Royal Bank of Scotland management came up with a marketing slogan. They would – it promised customers and rivals – “Make It Happen”. In giant type, the words were emblazoned on airport billboards and printed on tons of promotional material. A four minute [...]
City Moves for 19 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 18, 2013 Baker & McKenzie The law firm has announced the appointment of Paul Hibbert as a partner in its London office. Hibbert specialises in acquisition and leverage finance. He joins from Clifford Chance, where he was a senior associate in its London banking practice. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management The wealth management business has made two [...]
US housing market confidence drop sees end to four months of improvement September 17, 2013 The US housing market has seen builder confidence drop for the first time in four months, according to new figures from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Revisions saw last months' headline figure drop from 59 to 58, and September's disappointed too. Coming in at 58, that's below economist [...]
Letters to the Editor – 16/09 – House price cap, Startup survival, Best of Twitter September 15, 2013 House price cap [Re: Industry calls to limit lending won’t fix our bust housing system, Friday] A policy of the state intervening to cap house prices will strangle our fragile growth and exclude more people from home ownership. In economics, supply must meet demand. We need to fix the supply issues through less red tape [...]