Migration figures become latest political football in EU referendum May 26, 2016 David Cameron and the Remain camp could probably have done without this morning's immigration statistics – figures that are almost certain to be put centre stage during the last four weeks of the referendum campaign. The numbers, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed net migration was running at 330,000 in 2015, as a record number of [...]
Watches as investments: How the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona might be the most collectible watch ever, if only you could get your hands on one July 21, 2016 Last year two anonymous phone bidders made history when their feverish nine minutes of bidding ended with a Patek Philippe 5016A selling for $7.3m – 10 times its estimate. The crowd at the La Reserve Hotel in Geneva burst into spontaneous applause, delighted to have witnessed the sale of the most expensive wrist-watch ever. Stories [...]
Tesco is going deeper into the mortgage market April 19, 2016 Another surefire sign UK house price madness isn't showing any signs of abating: now Tesco wants a bigger slice of the pie. Or that's the suggestion from a statement this morning, in which the supermarket said its banking arm (the snappily-titled Tesco Bank) is launching its own mortgage intermediary service – called, you guessed it, Tesco Mortgage Intermediaries. The [...]
UK steel crisis: Prime Minister David Cameron raises issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping April 2, 2016 Amid the ongoing steel crisis, Prime Minister David Cameron has talked through his concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Downing Street confirmed that during a dinner at the White House, Cameron told Jinping that the two countries needed to work together. It emerged last week that the UK has blocked efforts in the EU to impose [...]
Property tech start-up Settled wins backing from lastminute.com investor and launches £1m fundraise April 4, 2016 An online property platform aiming to shake-up the traditional estate agency model by encouraging landlords take control of their own sales has launched a £1m funding round, after winning the backing of one of the UK's leading tech investors. Settled was launched last year by brother and sister team Gemma and Paul Young, who wanted to create an online business that put aspiring homeowners directly [...]
IMF head Christine Lagarde backs up Mark Carney in battle over a Brexit recession May 13, 2016 Brexit could push the UK into recession, hit wages, lead to higher prices and shatter London's status as the financial capital of the world, Christine Lagarde, head of International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said today, in the second high-profile Brexit warning in as many days. With less than six weeks to go until the EU referendum, – described [...]
Buy-to-let tax changes: A perfect storm for landlords and tenants March 11, 2016 Upcoming tax changes have ignited debate about the role private landlords should play in meeting the UK’s housing needs. Focus has fallen on buy-to-let but, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies, among others, has noted, landlords are taxed much less favourably than home owners. Following last year’s Autumn Statement, which outlined plans for an additional [...]
City of London Corporation warns Brexit threatens City’s international standing April 20, 2016 The City of London Corporation has sounded another warning over Brexit, this time regarding its impact on the City's role as an international financial centre. Speaking at a Brexit legal debate, Mark Boleat, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said UK-based financial institutions would lose access to the single market, while some would eventually consider relocating elsewhere in [...]
EU referendum: Wetherspoon boss warns European Union is “doomed” because it lacks democracy April 26, 2016 The European Union is "doomed" because it doesn’t have the level of democracy required to make it a great economic region, the boss of one of the UK's biggest pub chains has warned. Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon and a staunch supporter of the Leave campaign, said that just as the euro could [...]
iPhone 7 review: A brilliant handset but one that hints at even bigger things to come September 21, 2016 There were no queues around the block for the UK launch of the iPhone 7. Flash floods were a mitigating factor (plus the fact the annual pilgrimage has been on the wane for a couple of years), but I suspect it’s also because it looks so damn similar to the last one. The aluminium chassis [...]