The sweet seller’s son who wants to hold the chancellor to account November 28, 2010 VISITING Andrew Tyrie’s office is like being called to see the headmaster in an old-fashioned boarding school. The chairman of the Treasury select committee occupies a grand corner office in Westminster’s Norman Shaw North building, the former Scotland Yard HQ that now provides office space for MPs. Appropriately enough, Tyrie begins with a history lesson, [...]
The UK’s largest housebuilder says the road to recovery will be long December 19, 2010 PERSIMMON chief executive Mike Farley is not looking for a magic bullet. The boss of the country’s largest housebuilder is clear that the sector has endured its worst slump since World War Two and faces at least a two-year road to recovery. The industry tends to listen when Farley speaks. Not just because he runs [...]
The man who is set to bring more luxury to London’s five-star hotels November 14, 2010 LONDON’S five-star hotel market is set to take off over the next six months and a septuagenarian Maltese businessman called Alfred Pisani will be at the heart of the glamorous action. His £300m luxury Corinthia Hotel London, on Whitehall Place, is being completed and will take its first paying guests in April 2011. It is [...]
The housebuilder who is ready to take the long road back to recovery October 31, 2010 DESPITE the generally depressed state of the housebuilding and residential property market, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive Peter Redfern says he is pretty pleased with business. But sitting in the boardroom of his London office, his mood appears more reflective than upbeat. “Prices are very stable at the moment,” says Redfern. “Stable is good for us. [...]
Lurking behind the financial crisis: the Fed puppeteer and the trader September 27, 2010 I WANTED it to be like that Quentin Tarantino movie: every person should come away with a different picture. I wanted to almost do it with no judgment.” Andrew Ross Sorkin is in London for the Samuel L Johnson literary awards after Too Big To Fail, his best-selling account of the financial crisis, was short-listed [...]
One in ten adults say they won’t retire August 24, 2010 ONE?in ten adults don’t expect to retire, according to a survey, while almost half say they don’t know when they will be able to give up work. According to the survey from Baring Asset Management, 10 per cent of the working population – equivalent to some 3.5m people – don’t plan to stop working at [...]
BP remains under pressure months after plugging Gulf of Mexico leak August 30, 2010 THINGS can’t get much worse for Carl-Henric Svanberg, chairman of BP. After receiving a drubbing for his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, he is also nursing a £2m paper loss on shares he bought just before and just after the 20 April explosion. The beleaguered oil giant’s share price staged a mini [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES HIRING RATES ARE FLAT IN THE UK Employers expect a “static” rate of recruitment for the remainder of this year, according to new research, underlining concerns about the momentum of economic recovery. The survey of 2,100 employers by Manpower, the recruitment company, is likely to intensify debate on whether the private sector can [...]
Expat Expert: the power of local knowledge July 22, 2010 THANKS to globalisation and modernisation, individuals now have unparalleled levels of choice when it comes to relocation overseas. And London remains an extremely popular destination for individuals looking to experience life in another country – not only is it a hub for transport into mainland Europe and across the Atlantic, it has also retained its [...]
Expat Expert: the power of local knowledge July 22, 2010 THANKS to globalisation and modernisation, individuals now have unparalleled levels of choice when it comes to relocation overseas. And London remains an extremely popular destination for individuals looking to experience life in another country – not only is it a hub for transport into mainland Europe and across the Atlantic, it has also retained its [...]