We must build more homes to tackle bubble, not tax more June 11, 2013 IF you want to know why a wealth tax should not be adopted in Britain, look no further than France. Over 8,000 French households were hit by tax bills that topped 100 per cent of their income last year, Les Echos reported this weekend, citing finance ministry data. For these people, the only way to [...]
Mark Carney should learn from the failure of the Soviet shoe industry July 4, 2013 GROWING up in the West in the 1980s, new Bank of England governor Mark Carney was almost certainly inundated with stories about how the Soviet Union was not only an odious regime, but how even the possibly well-intentioned aspects of Soviet central planning inevitably resulted in sub-optimal economic outcomes. A classic example was shoes. Absent [...]
The best Christmas gift can’t be found on the high street December 19, 2012 CHRISTMAS is a time of consumption and, this year, despite some conflicting statistics, central London seems heaving. The New West End company estimated that the first weekend of December saw 16 per cent more shoppers than in 2011, many from abroad. Retail sales in December are typically twice those of other months and, for many [...]
West End companies call for a red bus ban to entice shoppers September 26, 2012 A WEST End business group has called for the end of the “wall of red buses” that clog up Oxford Street. The New West End Company (NWEC), which represents retailers and landlords in the area, wants to introduce pedestrian-only times to coincide with the completion of Crossrail in 2018. It claims that previous traffic-free days [...]
Four new firms setting up shop in Heron Tower | City A.M. April 29, 2013 GERALD Ronson’s landmark Heron Tower is now 60 per cent let after four new tenants agreed to take up office space in the building. Partnership Assurance, the pensions company, has signed for the building’s lowest four office storeys, Heron International Group said yesterday. Securis Investment Partners, the insurance linked investment fund manager, stockbrokers Westhouse Securities, [...]
Costain snags Bond St deal with Skanska February 18, 2013 A JOINT venture between engineers Costain and Skanska has bagged a construction contract worth £110m to help Bond Street station cope with the 70,000 extra passengers a day it is expected to see once the Crossrail line is completed. The project will include building two new ticket halls at the popular West End shopping hub, [...]
Chinese buyers poised to step up search for London property February 14, 2013 CHINESE investors’ appetite for London property is expected to increase this year after the Chinese government relaxed rules on offshore investment. Savills said the recent relaxation on the investment of insurance proceeds by the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission could result in up to £10bn of new inward investment into London. Research published by the property [...]
All Out: Champions miss out on final place February 13, 2013 ENGLAND’S Sarah Taylor scored 88 as the defending champions beat New Zealand by 15 runs in the Women’s World Cup yesterday, but it was not enough to earn them a place in Sunday’s final. Australia’s surprise eight-run defeat by West Indies earlier in the day ended England’s hopes of defending their title.
Scrap January window, says Hammers captain February 7, 2013 WEST HAM captain Kevin Nolan has called for the January transfer window to be scrapped, insisting no one in football is in favour of it any more. His comments come after Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp complained of “gang warfare” among agents trying to muscle in on each other’s transactions as last week’s deadline [...]
Great Portland hires new broker October 3, 2013 West End-focused property developer Great Portland Estates announced yesterday it has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch as joint corporate broker with immediate effect, working alongside the firm’s longstanding broker JP Morgan Cazenove. The company declined to comment further on the appointment.