How to avoid a hangover: Investing in fine wine April 23, 2015 Tom Welsh examines the risks and opportunities of this alternative asset class. At an auction in Hong Kong late last year, the record for the most expensive super-lot of wine ever sold was broken. Going for the equivalent of about $1,700 per glass, 114 bottles of Romanee- Conti Burgundy were bought for approximately $1.6m by [...]
AOL Verizon deal: This is boss Tim Armstrong’s email to staff in full May 12, 2015 AOL boss Tim Armstrong has emailed staff about Verizon's $4.4bn offer to buy the online company. Here are his words in full. As you have heard me say many times over the last 5 years since we became an independent AOL, we are building toward becoming the largest media technology company in the world. While [...]
Focus on Poplar: There’s good reason it’s getting so popular, you know May 21, 2015 It hasn’t always been so popular to live in Poplar. Its postcode, E14, has held the dubious honour of being the most unequal in the UK, as its East End estates sit a stone’s throw away from the shimmering towers of Canary Wharf. It’s now best known in the nation’s mindset as the impoverished setting [...]
Foxtons share price falls as revenues drop 12 per cent January 27, 2015 The figures Not a good day for Foxtons shareholders. Shares fell 2.4 per cent in early trading as the upmarket estate agent – known for its trendy Minis and even trendier, bar-like offices – has posted fourth quarter results showing revenues fell 12 per cent in the three months to the end of December. That was [...]
In graphs: Stamp duty rises by over £900m in 12 months June 20, 2014 A Londoner making his or her way up the housing ladder can expect to have paid £38,000 in stamp duty between 1998 and 2014, according to new research by Lloyds Banking Group. The data also shows, as this paper reported, that stamp duty was up over £900m in the last 12 months. These are big [...]
London house prices: Unseasonable heat in the capital’s housing market January 19, 2015 After a muted end to 2014, London house prices grew 0.9 per cent in January, compared to just 0.2 per cent in the first month of 2014. 10 of the 32 boroughs surveyed by Rightmove reported asking prices having dropped in January, with the positive score for the region pushed up by some top performers. [...]
Maximum excitement on the CWC with sporting index February 12, 2015 WITH nearly 20 specials markets for England’s Cricket World Cup opener against Australia, Sporting Index really does have something for everyone. As well as total wides, total sixes and total fours, there are also unique markets like 50-Ups, Ton-Ups, Zero Tolerance and Full English. 50-Ton-Ups are a prediction on the aggregate total of players’ runs [...]
London barometer January 29, 2015 Sales Director, Douglas & Gordon At the end of 2014, more offers were agreed than the same time last year despite a 20 per cent reduction in applicants. Pragmatic purchasers seized the opportunity to secure good value for money and, interestingly, fall-throughs were at a 12 month low. As a direct impact of stamp duty [...]
Housing market surges in March as fresh loan regulation looms April 24, 2014 MARCH was a boom month for the housing market according to a range of research released today, and ahead of the oncoming change in regulation with the mortgage market review. According to estate agents Barnard Marcus, London sales roared back from a winter slumber, with the number of transactions up by 34 per cent from [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Sue Round talks fund management, sentimentality and being broke March 26, 2015 Buongiorno signora!” bellows the exuberant waiter at Bolton’s, an Italian tucked away in an unassuming corner near Leadenhall Market. “Hello, hellooo” comes the response. I know Sue Round has arrived, even before I see her. She greets me warmly, as if we’ve known each other for years. In fact, I’ve met Sue only once before [...]