City A.M. shadow MPC votes 7-2 to hold rates June 4, 2014 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “Bank rate should rise immediately to one per cent. UK employment has returned to long-term average levels, and hiring still is still accelerating. Monetary policy for emergency conditions is not just unsuitable in this environment, but dangerous too.” JAMES SPROULE | INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS “Hold rates – UK recovery continues [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes 7-2 to hold rates May 7, 2014 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. Recent business surveys suggest that growth is not only still strong, but may even be accelerating. The wage squeeze is ending, unemployment’s on the way down and the emergency that brought in ultra-loose monetary policy is long over. Bank rate should be increased by 0.5 percentage points. JAMES SPROULE INSTITUTE [...]
Letters to the Editor – 12/05 – Astrazeneca board, City jobs, Best of Twitter May 11, 2014 Astrazeneca board [Re: Why the government doesn’t need to protect Astrazeneca, Friday] A sound and balanced piece by Roger Barker. I am somewhat impressed by the integrity shown by the Astrazeneca board so far in this bid. I sense that they have real belief in their strategy now that they are seeing evidence of recovery [...]
Raw ambition: Meet Yo! Sushi founder and ex-Dragon Simon Woodroffe June 16, 2014 Harriet Green talks Yo! Sushi and embracing disaster with ex-Dragon Simon Woodroffe For one of Britain’s most ebullient entrepreneurs, Simon Woodroffe is modest about his first steps into business. “The initial motivation was desperation”, he says. The founder of Yo! Sushi, Yo! and former BBC Dragon says that he “started a restaurant in a world [...]
Rates likely to stay low despite strong growth April 9, 2014 OUR PANEL of monetary policy experts says the Bank of England should hold rates once again this month, with two votes for a hike. More members of our shadow monetary policy committee are now noting the strength in the recovery, and acknowledging that a rate hike will eventually have to come. But inflation has dropped [...]
Charlton and Hull advance February 24, 2014 CHAMPIONSHIP strugglers Charlton reached their first FA Cup quarter-final since 2006 last night, with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Goals from Callum Harriott and Simon Church, either side of Leon Best’s effort, set up an away trip to League One giant-killers Sheffield United in round six. Hull will entertain Sunderland in the [...]
London Report: M&S in focus as clothing sales forecast to fall April 7, 2014 HIGH street bellwether Marks & Spencer will be in the spotlight this week as the giant retailer updates the City for the three months to the end of March. Analysts predict that the company’s clothing sales will fall for the 11th quarter in a row, inviting questions about what the firm can do to revamp [...]
City A.M. Shadow MPC holds, despite growth March 5, 2014 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M.“The collapse of forward guidance is just the latest evidence that a tightening of monetary policy is long overdue. Significant capacity constraints are already emerging and will worsen as the economy returns to a normal growth rate. Bank rate should immediately be raised to one per cent.” JAMES SPROULE | INSTITUTE [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes 7-2 against higher rates February 5, 2014 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. The case for a 0.5 percentage point hike in the Bank rate is clear. The unemployment level is plummeting and firms are reporting some of the most positive conditions on record. The dangers of emergency monetary policy are now increasingly obvious, especially in London’s property market JAMES SPROULE | INSTITUTE [...]
Hester plots RSA rights issue to shore up capital February 23, 2014 RSA GROUP’S new chief executive Stephen Hester is set to launch a full blown rights issue this week, raising the stakes in his bid to strengthen the troubled insurer’s balance sheet. Hester, who took the reins of the FTSE 100 firm last month, is hoping to raise £1bn through a rights issue, the sale of [...]