US housing market confidence drop sees end to four months of improvement September 17, 2013 The US housing market has seen builder confidence drop for the first time in four months, according to new figures from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Revisions saw last months' headline figure drop from 59 to 58, and September's disappointed too. Coming in at 58, that's below economist [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 26 September 2013 September 25, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Nokia asked Elop to give back €18m Nokia’s chairman asked Stephen Elop, the Finnish group’s former chief executive, if he would forgo part or all of his €18.8m pay-off several days ago as the furore over it grew. People close to Nokia said that as pressure mounted over the weekend from Finnish politicians, [...]
Tories alone on home loan plan September 29, 2013 DAVID Cameron yesterday announced that a controversial scheme offering taxpayer-subsidised mortgages will launch this week, without consulting his coalition partners and despite mounting criticism that he is stoking a new housing bubble. The second part of Help to Buy, which will enable buyers to purchase a house with a deposit of just five per cent, [...]
Laura Ashley to target younger homebuyers after drop in sales September 25, 2013 LAURA Ashley is planning to tap in to the recovery in the housing market by targeting younger customers for its homewares division after a lacklustre performance from its fashion range hurt sales and its shares. Famous for its feminine and floral designs, the 60-year-old firm said yesterday it planned to make its furniture, home accessories [...]
GDP grows at fastest pace in three years, but is it sustainable? October 25, 2013 Despite latest GDP estimates showing the fastest pace of growth in over three years, analysts are questioning whether such a pace can be sustained.The UK saw GDP rise 0.8 per cent this morning, but this is still 2.5 per cent behind its pre-crisis peak, and means we have some catching up to do with the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 29 November 2013 November 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Apollo in Aviva’s UK property deal Apollo Global Management is closing in on the purchase of a £400m block of distressed UK property holdings put up for sale by Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurer, said people familiar with the matter. The private equity house has emerged as the preferred bidder for the assets. [...]
Grafton keen on further growth after switching Irish roots for UK listing October 20, 2013 Gavin Slark, boss of the builders’ merchant, tells Kasmira Jefford what’s next for his company WHEN Gavin Slark was handed the toolbox and made chief executive of the Irish-based builders merchant two years ago, Grafton was in dire need of repairs. The global financial crisis had all but flattened the UK and Ireland’s construction market [...]
London Barometer August 29, 2013 SALES DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS & GORDON The summer is traditionally a quieter time to put a house onto the market as buyers tend to be away or less motivated when their children are on school holidays. However, savvy sellers are benefiting from an 18% increase in buyers registering in July this year, which is the same [...]
Bottom Line: Results to show benefit of planning ahead November 18, 2013 LAST week, EasyJet revealed that it had finished testing its volcano-busting aircraft sensors, allowing planes to dodge ash clouds and keep flying after eruptions like the one that crippled European airspace in 2010. The experiment, which required EasyJet and its partners to throw a metric tonne of ash into the sky before flying four planes [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 26 November 2013 November 25, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Europe unveils tax crackdown Ambitious proposals to block tax loopholes in cross-border financing structures were unveiled by Brussels yesterday, in an attempt to force multinationals to pay billions of euros more in corporate taxes to members of the European Union. EU accuses US of improper data trawl Brussels is to warn Washington that [...]