24 Hour Party People? George Osborne and Boris Johnson confirm plans to turn London into 24-hour city February 20, 2015 London is just months away from taking tentative steps towards becoming a 24-hour capital, and the government is already planning the next phase. Chancellor George Osborne and London mayor Boris Johnson this morning confirmed a wider rollout of the 24 hour service across the Tube and Overground lines from 2017. That will follow [...]
Wolfgang Schauble’s fine line on the Eurozone’s QE – CNBC Comment January 26, 2015 I had to laugh. Watching the CNBC panel at the World Economic Forum last Friday in Davos, the German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble stole the show in his dry, wry way. Having been one of the biggest critics of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) QE programme from the start, he walked a delicate line defending [...]
Pensioners have “stopped being poor” but their benefits will top £12bn by 2019, says IFS boss November 25, 2014 Government benefits for pensioners will cost £12bn more per year by 2019 if the current system is kept in place, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The massive increase in spending would come about even though pensioners are on average wealthier than those still in work. The IFS argued "pensioners as a group [...]
James Murdoch steps down as Sky Deutschland chairman after pension fund questions “conflicts of interests and suitability” November 19, 2014 James Murdoch has stepped down from his role as chairman of Sky Deutschland following today's AGM. Murdoch will remain on the supervisory board, with Sky's chief executive Jeremy Darroch taking on the chairmanship role. Andrew Griffith has also joined the board as a member. The move comes two days after the Local Authority [...]
American Apparel founder Dov Charney fired from clothing brand for good December 17, 2014 American Apparel has finally said farewell to its founder and former chief executive Dov Charney, and appointed its first female chief executive in his place. The clothing brand first tried to push Charney out of the door back in June after an internal investigation found that his well-documented behavioural issues threatened to undermine the [...]
Simmons advises on £250m MBS transaction for Paragon November 20, 2014 LONDON-based international law firm Simmons & Simmons has advised on a £250m mortgage-backed security transaction for the British buy-to-let mortgage provider Paragon, the firm said yesterday. Led by asset-backed finance partner Simon Schiff, the firm advised joint lead managers Lloyds, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley and Natixis on the deal, which securitises UK buy-to-let mortgages. The transaction [...]
Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One splashes cash on US deal as finance boss Giles Willits talks expansion plans January 6, 2015 Giles Willits is sitting in the boardroom of Entertainment One’s offices in west London with a family of Peppa Pig cuddly toys gazing up at him. The British TV phenomenon – Peppa Pig, that is – is one of the production group’s most successful exports. But today pigs are forgotten and the group’s jolly finance [...]
Bank cheers Budget’s focus on saving as UK confidence swells March 24, 2014 LLOYDS Bank has backed the recent Budget’s focus on savings, as the group records the strongest consumer confidence in at least three years. Lloyds’ latest spending power report suggests that the number of people saving some of their income has risen by a third since May last year. The bank’s headline figure for consumer confidence [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Ainslie McLennan talks property, politics and picking an IFA April 23, 2015 “I needed a bigger pond to swim in,” says Ainslie McLennan, describing her move to London, more than 10 years ago. She’d completed “the full triangle” in Scotland: born-andbred in Glasgow, she studied at Aberdeen University and then worked in Edinburgh. Her choice of subjects at university raises an eyebrow. “I started out doing [...]
Homeowners’ equity injections into housing market near sixth year April 3, 2014 Homeowners injected £10.6bn of equity into the housing market in the final quarter of 2013, as very low savings interest rates continue to make it easier for people to pay down their mortgages. The figures from the Bank of England show the quarter to be the 23rd successive net housing equity injection, but the figure [...]