UK construction industry fears hard Brexit will turn skills gap into a gulf November 30, 2016 Construction could be buffeted big-time if there's a "hard Brexit" and lose more than 200,000 workers. According to a report by design and consultancy firm Arcadis, the industry could suffer from a "skills gulf" once the UK leaves the European Union and the loss of nearly 215,000 workers from house building and infrastructure if there's [...]
Bupa snaps up dentistry group Oasis for £835m from private equity house Bridgepoint November 18, 2016 Private healthcare group Bupa has announced an £835m takeover of dentistry chain Oasis from a private equity group. Bupa, advised by Barclays bankers, was said to be in competition with other private equity groups for the acquisition of Oasis, which was owned by Bridgepoint. The private equity house, advised on this deal by Moelis and [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Here’s how business groups have reacted to today’s announcement November 23, 2016 Today's Autumn Statement may be the last after chancellor Philip Hammond announced he would scrap the annual November mini-Budget, but there's still an awful lot for the business world to sink its teeth into this time around. Here's how some of the UK's biggest business groups have reacted to today's announcements, which include big infrastructure [...]
Overzealous EU data protection regulations are more likely to take your job than a robot March 2, 2017 Economist John Maynard Keynes once suggested, tongue only just in his cheek, that if governments want to create jobs, they could fill bottles with cash and bury them, so companies would hire workers to dig them up. The EU’s incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), its attempt to strengthen and unify data protection laws, looks [...]
Why banks could actually prove a less stressful part of your portfolio January 13, 2017 Market consensus tells us the banking sector remains a risky place for investors to put their money. After all, the prevailing wisdom runs, banks are cyclical, poorly capitalised and in lousy shape for the next downturn, as and when it comes. Of course, as contrarian investors, we believe market consensus and prevailing wisdom primarily [...]
Why banks could actually prove a less stressful part of your portfolio January 13, 2017 Market consensus tells us the banking sector remains a risky place for investors to put their money. After all, the prevailing wisdom runs, banks are cyclical, poorly capitalised and in lousy shape for the next downturn, as and when it comes. Of course, as contrarian investors, we believe market consensus and prevailing wisdom primarily exist [...]
Generation unlucky: Millennials are feeling sorry for themselves financially (and don’t mention Brexit) December 10, 2016 With Christmas on the way, spare a thought for the millennials in your life. They are are probably feeling hard done by financially, and miserable about 2016’s Brexit vote. Maybe you could consider putting another tangerine in their stocking, or adding an extra £5 on to their HMV gift card, to make up for it. A [...]
City Moves for 10 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 10, 2016 Touch Surgery Eric Collins has been appointed by Touch Surgery as chief operations officer. Eric is a technology executive who has spent a career building the value of software companies through innovative product, distribution, monetisation and partnering strategies. Previously he has held roles at AOL, Time Warner and SwiftKey/Microsoft. He was also appointed by former [...]
UK house prices: The property market is mired in uncertainty – brace for higher prices and polarised demand September 30, 2015 It is time for a big think about UK house prices. Does anybody know which way they will turn? Whether we’re looking at the short term or the long term, a tremendous amount of uncertainty abounds. Looking at the short-term outlook, latest figures from the Halifax show prices rising by 9 per cent year-on-year, [...]
Knight Frank’s chairman calls for a reversal of changes to stamp duty tax October 10, 2016 Chairman of the estate agents Knight Frank has called on the UK government to reverse changes to stamp duty taxes. Former Chancellor George Osborne increased the rate of stamp duty of second homes, a change that came into effect at the beginning of April, leading many buy to let landlords to flee the property market. [...]