Housing recession creeping closer as Barratt cuts jobs July 11, 2008 Leading economists predicted yesterday that house prices will fall by 35 per cent by the end of next year, as lender Halifax reported a 2 per cent slump in values last month. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said that house prices are already 6.1 per cent lower than last June, fuelling fears Britain is heading for [...]
Hays cautions on slowdown July 11, 2008 British recruitment giant Hays yesterday warned that UK growth was slowing and that it would have to cut jobs, although it said it still predicted profits in line with market expectations. Hays, which generates around half its fees in the UK and Ireland, grew total net fees by 16 per cent in the quarter ending [...]
Persimmon in mass job cull July 7, 2008 Persimmon, Britain’s most profitable housebuilder, will announce tomorrow that it is cutting 20 per cent of its workforce, in the latest mass cull to hit the beleaguered sector. Persimmon is expected to say it is making at least 1,000 redundancies in a trading update on Tuesday, as it attempts to reduce costs and ride out [...]
Buying off-plan means that you have control over your investment July 3, 2008 You can land a bargain if you are prepared to do your research, writes Timothy Barber Buying a property can be pretty much the most stressful process you can put yourself through. You can multiply that by ten when it comes to buying abroad. Whether looking for a holiday home or a simple investment, a [...]
CRH hit by sharp fall in house building July 3, 2008 Irish building materials firm CRH said yesterday that it expects a “high single percentage” drop in pre-tax profits this year, blaming a downturn in its key markets and a weakening dollar. It forecasts pre-tax profits to 30 June of €600m (£478m), compared with €670m in 2007. Following the news, shares in the second largest provider [...]
The Power Struggle November 3, 2005 The fate of Battersea’s famous structure is still far from certain, reports Robin Marriott To the Chelsea residents on the north side of the Thames, Battersea Power Station stands out like a monument to a bygone era. The four chimneys no longer emit smoke and the days when it generated electricity must seem as distant [...]
The art of business October 24, 2005 With corporate curators taking more risks in their purchasing policy, staff around the City are being exposed to more cutting edge art than ever before. An excitable group of schoolboys snakes along one of the corridors of Deutsche Bank’s Winchester House offices in the heart of the City. They bob around a lithograph of a [...]
Record profit warnings October 21, 2005 The number of British companies issuing profit warnings in September surged to a four-year record due to difficult market and trading conditions. According to research by Ernst & Young, 103 firms listed on the London Stock Exchange issued a warning in the three months to 30 September. This represents a rise of 39 per cent [...]