3i in plea for patience amid investor anger April 1, 2012 DIRECTORS at 3i are set to plead for patience with key investors amid calls for change at the under-pressure private equity house. A group of shareholders, the total size of which is unknown, has demanded the firm sell off assets after a long period in which shares have traded below the underlying value of investments. [...]
Watches for those with a global outlook May 3, 2012 THERE’S a case to be made that in the age of global business the ultimate executive watch is a world timer. For anyone whose work sees them regularly jetting between time zones, or who simply needs to know the hour in different markets around the globe at any given moment, a world timer – in [...]
The truth over board room pay February 20, 2012 REAL pay to non-executive directors of FTSE 100 companies has fallen, according to figures released this morning. Pay in the year to June 2011 rose by a median of four per cent, Incomes Data Services has found – lower than both the main measures of inflation over the period. In the 12 months to June [...]
Balls: cut VAT to get growth February 20, 2012 SHADOW chancellor Ed Balls has said that a temporary cut in VAT would be the best way to stimulate growth but has not said how he would pay for the measure. He said: “The VAT cut is the fastest and fairest way to do a temporary boost to demand, to get confidence moving.” Balls said [...]
Repossessions forecast to rise February 9, 2012 HOUSE PRICES are set to fall in 2012 as unemployment rises and household income stays depressed, according to yesterday’s forecasts from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and today’s LSL house price index and e.surv mortgage monitor. The weak economic outlook is also set to push up repossessions as more borrowers fail to keep up [...]
Boris: Britain must resist EU red tape March 4, 2012 BORIS Johnson has called on the government to boost transport spending, launch a crackdown on people dodging stamp duty and for Britain to pay less attention to EU rules. The London Mayor said economic growth “revolves around” improving the transport system, despite the pressure on public spending, and called on the Treasury to tackle the [...]
Give your finances a spring clean: A guide to tidying up all the mess April 1, 2012 SAVINGS Tom Stevenson, investment director, Fidelity WITH a new tax year approaching, the sun shining and a string of bank holidays ahead, spring is certainly in the air. Now is the perfect time for you to take control of your savings. The first step of any spring clean should be ensuring that your money is [...]
Carve yourself a very merry Xmas December 21, 2011 IN the Lord Byron room of Brown’s Hotel on Albemarle Street, a slow-grown just-roasted chicken rests on a bespoke stand and our mission is to carve it – properly. Mark Hix, ex-chef-director of Caprice Holdings, is hosting a masterclass to revive “the lost art of carving”, and he is teaching over a long roast lunch [...]
Households struggling as prices rocket October 23, 2011 THE SQUEEZE on Britons’ finances is showing no sign of relaxing, according to a downbeat report by Markit, released this morning, thanks to job losses and soaring prices. The outlook for household finances plummeted to its lowest level for six months, Markit’s index has shown. The measure of people’s expectations for their finances over the [...]
S&P move would make EU stability history December 6, 2011 WITH member states coming to the grim realisation that if the Eurozone situation gets any worse they are going to be inflicted with Bob Geldof staging a charity concert for it, the S&P ratings agency drew that nightmare one step closer. I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS On Monday, the ratings agency put the bulk of the [...]