Forget populist executive pay curbs: Prime Minister May should embrace these six policies to revitalise growth July 11, 2016 Predictably, those who demand more government spending both when the economy is doing well and badly are calling for increases to see off any potential post-Brexit slowdown. “Infrastructure spending” is the call of the day, with masses of supposed “shovel-ready projects” with high returns apparently lying around for the government to undertake. Unfortunately, in the [...]
Best of British: Four top UK stocks for your ISA – the cream of the house builders, defence, television and retail May 31, 2016 The UK is home to many great businesses and buying shares in ones with good business models and prospects for growth can be a great way to boost savings in an Isa or Sipp. Markets have been rocky this year because of Brexit and trouble overseas, but we asked the best fund managers for examples of [...]
As Pinterest announces a new video advert format, its success in mobile will hinge on bringing its communities together August 19, 2016 Pinterest announced the launch of a new promoted video format last week which is click-to-play and mobile only. It operates differently to the auto-play formats popularised by the likes of Facebook and Twitter, instead offering a glimpse of the video content and encouraging users to click to see the full content. Pinterest’s in-house creative team, The [...]
Labour shortages are casting a shadow over the UK property market June 14, 2016 Housebuilders are convinced that a lack of labour is one of the biggest challenges facing the property market, according to a survey from Knight Frank released today. The report found that as many as 73 per cent of respondents believed the cost and availability of labour will have a negative impact on future housing supply. Read [...]
Holiday Homes: Austria is on the up as Brits look to buy second homes that will maintain yields all year round August 11, 2016 If you need to get away from all the Brexit chatter, I know the perfect place to get some much-needed perspective. Over in the Austrian Alps, those dark clouds that dog us in the UK are lined with silver. Figures released from the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) this year have shown that the country’s [...]
Steel crisis: Sajid Javid and Carwyn Jones fly to Mumbai for Tata Steel board meeting May 25, 2016 Business secretary Sajid Javid has flown to Mumbai to attend a Tata board meeting to discuss final bids submitted on Monday for the steelmaker's UK operations. Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones will also attend today's meeting. City A.M. understands four bids have been submitted for the Indian steel giant's UK arm, although seven bidders advanced to the [...]
Opinion: A real estate legal specialist explains why using Brexit to get out of a property deal is a very bad idea June 30, 2016 Several days on from the result of the EU Referendum and, inevitably, many are wondering how leaving the EU will affect the London residential property market. First, it’s important to take a step back and look at what was happening before the referendum. The 15 per cent stamp duty and annual taxes for properties worth [...]
Former chancellor George Osborne is responsible for turning the minimum wage into a political football August 4, 2016 Last summer, then-chancellor George Osborne unveiled his first post-coalition, true-blue Budget – and with it, a big jump in the minimum wage. This somewhat confusing re-brand saw the minimum wage become the “National Living Wage” (NLW), which Osborne decided would jump from £6.50 an hour to £7.20, and keep rising to £9 in time for the [...]
Four ways the City can shape Brexit to its advantage June 29, 2016 Like it or not, the result was clear. Leave won by about the same margin as Barack Obama over Mitt Romney at the last US presidential election but on an enormous 72 per cent turnout. Apart from house-builders, UK banks have been the worst hit in the FTSE 100 over the past few days of [...]
Energy minister Andrea Leadsom has vowed to banish pessimism as questions continue over her time in the City July 7, 2016 Supporters of energy minister Andrea Leadsom have staged a march on parliament after the energy minister promised to “banish the pessimists” on Brexit. Leadsom backers walked for half a mile between her speech at Millbank Tower and Houses of Parliament. Along the way, they chanted in support of the energy minister. https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/750979473277943808 https://twitter.com/MichaelPDeacon/status/750977498998079488 The march came [...]