London property boosts UK’s April sales increase April 25, 2010 HOUSE prices in England and Wales rose by an annual 1.8 per cent in April, their fastest pace of increase since January 2008, property data company Hometrack reports today. But monthly house price growth slowed to 0.2 per cent in April from 0.3 per cent in March on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to Hometrack’s [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD April 11, 2010 AFTER a slew of central bank monetary policy decisions last week, this week is dominated by consumer-focused data. In the UK, we’ll get the British Retail Consortium’s March figures and the RICS’ house price balance for last month at midnight tomorrow. Thursday at midnight sees the release of the March Nationwide consumer confidence survey. It [...]
Choosing the most suitable card is not a zero-sum game May 6, 2010 WHEN Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank announced earlier this week their offer of 0 per cent interest on balance transfers for the first 16 months, it threw the cat among the pigeons. The two banks, both UK subsidiaries of National Australia Bank, leapt straight to the top of the best-buy comparison tables with the deal, [...]
Cameron fails to turn Britain blue May 7, 2010 TORY leader David Cameron had hoped to turn Britain blue today but the party’s plan to target swing voters waned the further the Conservatives moved away from their heartlands in the South East. Conservative strategists masterminded wins from Labour in seats like Kingswood in South Gloucestershire with a swing of 9.4 per cent, or Sutton [...]
Car production sees 90pc rise in March as confidence rises April 22, 2010 LENDING to British firms fell at a slower pace in February than January but still recorded the second biggest annual percentage drop since records began, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. There was better news for the housing market, however, with mortgage approvals rising for the first time since November and lenders [...]
Flow of lending to UK firms remains weak, warns BoE April 22, 2010 LENDING to British firms fell at a slower pace in February than January but still recorded the second biggest annual percentage drop since records began, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. There was better news for the housing market, however, with mortgage approvals rising for the first time since November and lenders [...]
Halfords expands into car servicing February 18, 2010 CAR and bike accessories retailer Halfords is expanding into car servicing after buying Nationwide Autocentres for £73.2m. The company said the ‘Halfords Autocentre’ business would be a major source of growth for the firm. In addition to Nationwide’s existing 224 sites, it is expected that Halfords open 200 new centres, creating 1,000 new jobs. Shares [...]
Markets disheartened by mixed US figures March 31, 2010 MIXED US data dominated the markets yesterday after two other key macroeconomic indicators also disappointed investors. Business activity in the Midwest, as measured by the Institute of Supply Management’s Chicago business index, dropped to 58.8 in March from 62.6 in February, indicating a slowdown in the pace of expansion. This reading was well below the [...]
Halfords buys car company February 18, 2010 CAR and bike accessories retailer Halfords said yesterday it was expanding into the car servicing market after buying Nationwide Autocentres for £73.2m. The company said the “Halfords Autocentre” business would be a major source of growth for the firm. In addition to Nationwide’s existing 224 sites, it is expected that Halfords will open 200 new [...]
Britons are at their most optimistic in two years as economy starts to grow March 2, 2010 BRITONS are at their most confident in two years with expectations about the future the highest level on record, the Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index for February will show today. This second consecutive rise puts the index at 80, its highest level since January 2008, and almost double the level recorded during the same period last [...]