Pension changes: Government plans to let pensioners sell their annuities on a new secondary market have been universally criticised February 18, 2016 Pensioners will be able to sell on their annuities from next year, swapping regular income payments for a lump sum. It’s part of government plans to give greater freedom to the 5m pensioners who are already living with annuities. Some may be regretting their choice, and the idea of a fat lump sum instead of [...]
April Fools Day 2016: From breast milk protein to McDonald’s landing on the moon, here are the best, worst, laziest and weirdest fake tech stories April 1, 2016 When in comes to April 1st, Britain's press officers like to break the boundaries of physics. City A.M. has been drowning in scientific discoveries, technology advancements and new product launches ahead of April Fools, but did any of them catch you out? Food for thought Upmarket takeaway group Deliveroo has pledged to make eating a burrito even easier, as [...]
Apple Pay in the UK: These are the retailers and restaurants signed up for the July launch June 9, 2015 Some of the UK's biggest retailers are lining up to start accepting Apple Pay when it launches in the UK next month. As well as being able to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly glide through ticket barriers on the Tube, the Silicon Valley giant has its finger hovering over the button [...]
Five reasons to think twice before investing in buy-to-let March 31, 2016 You hear it all the time. A relative or a friend has just inherited some money. They want to make it work for them. So they make what seems like an ironclad financial decision: they invest in buy-to-let. Why is this so common? After all, property ownership is a relatively recent trend. Well, rental properties [...]
School of hard knocks: How to cut the soaring cost of private education May 26, 2016 When it comes to our children, a good education is priceless. But if you’re talking about sending them to a private school, there is a hefty price tag, and it has been rising precipitously. To send a child to a private day school from 2015 to 2028 will set you back an average of £286,000, [...]
A third of people visit shopping centres to eat rather than shop, says CBRE October 15, 2015 You would think that most people’s immediate instinct when entering a shopping centre would be to grab and run – before it all gets too much. Not so, according to new research from CBRE, which reveals that a third of all visitors to shopping centres across Europe, South Africa and the Middle East will visit [...]
I spent the entire day on the sofa using only my smartphone to feed, clean, entertain, wash and supply me. Here is my story. April 7, 2016 There’s never been a better time to have an aversion to effort. Fuelled by a heady mix of collective laziness and a perceived lack of free time, a new breed of smartphone app has rocketed to popularity: the convenience app; the concierge app; the can’t be bothered doing it myself app. All of them developed [...]
Doctors want a 20 per cent sugar tax, according to new poll November 4, 2015 More than two thirds of GPs think the government should introduce a controversial sugar tax, according to a new poll. The poll for Pulse, a magazine aimed at the medical industry, found 67 per cent of GPs support the tax, with "many warning that people were unaware about the damage sugary products do to their health". [...]
Restaurant review of Jason Atherton’s Sosharu and Soho’s Oliver Maki, London’s newest Japanese upstarts April 5, 2016 Oliver Maki 33 Dean St, W1D 4PWS | Tel: 020 7734 0408 Food ★★★☆☆ Value ★★★☆☆ Atmostphere ★★☆☆☆ Cost for two with beer and cocktails: £170 There’s no easy way to make a million in the restaurant business. It’s a Sisyphean struggle, an endless, mostly thankless, battle against astonishing odds. Every year is the year it could all come [...]
Street Feast owner London Union backed by Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver crowdfunds millions for expansion December 3, 2015 London Union, the celeb-backed company behind Street Feast, Dinerama and Hawker House co-founded by the creator of Leon restaurants has raised millions of pounds to expand across the city. With the public appetite for street food only rising, it raised £2.5m on crowdfunding site Seedrs, with 160 individuals investing between £5,000 and £200,000. It has also raising a [...]