London is the centre of the world, but it looks to New York for its property ideas February 12, 2015 London isn’t only a global capital, it’s the global capital, if we’re to believe Forbes, which ranked London as the most influential city globally last year, leaving New York snapping at its heels. While political uncertainty in the UK may have knocked confidence, it’s still widely thought that London’s reign will continue. However, beyond the [...]
House building booming, but not by enough October 22, 2014 UK HOUSE building has hit its highest level for seven years, but there is still a “chronic shortage” of housing, a leading home warranty provider said today. The number of new homes increased eight per cent year-on-year in the third quarter, figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) have shown. Much of the growth was [...]
City Moves for 16 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 15, 2014 Vail Williams Nina Epstein has been appointed senior management surveyor at the commercial property adviser. She joins from DTZ, where she worked in its property asset management/business development division. Epstein has also held roles at Cushman & Wakefield, LaSalle Investment Management, and CB Hillier Parker. Aviva Investors Mark Connolly has been appointed chief investment officer, [...]
Report: Regulation will not be enough to save our retail banking sector – it might need a complete restructure November 26, 2014 Tighter regulation won't be enough save Britain's retail banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis, according to experts involved in an investigation into the sector's decline. Conducted by the think tank New City Agenda and CASS Business School, the report reveals how the UK's four main retail banks are continuing to lose customer [...]
EasyJet finance chief Chris Kennedy departs for chipmaker ARM January 8, 2015 The finance chief carousel continues turning. EasyJet is losing its CFO Chris Kennedy to British chipmaker ARM after five years in the cockpit of the budget airline. ARM revealed it has poached Kennedy to replace outgoing finance man Tim Score who announced his retirement from the Cambridge-based company in May 2014. ARM chief Simon Segars [...]
Islamic banking: Now is a better time than ever for women to enter the industry, says head of investment firm January 27, 2015 Stylishly dressed, confident in manner and authoritative in tone, it's hard to imagine Stella Cox ever had difficulty convincing her colleagues to employ her abilities in the work place. But difficulty she faced, and unlike most women who entered finance in the mid 1980s, her problems stemmed not just from the male-dominated nature of the [...]
July Budget 2015 at a glance: From a new tax-free dividend allowance to the raid on buy-to-let landlords and new inheritance tax rules July 8, 2015 The chancellor outlined £12bn of welfare cuts, introduced new inheritance tax rules & vowed to crack down on tax avoidance. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK is expected to be the fastest-growing advanced economy again this year. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the economy to grow by 2.4 per cent in [...]
Diary of a Crowdfunder: Crowdfunding the medicines of the future March 11, 2015 Venomtech’s Steve Trim explains why he’s looking to raise £350,000 on SyndicateRoom. While working as a drug discovery scientist at a pharmaceutical company in 2009, an idea was brewing in my mind concerning a problem I was facing. The problem was how to make new drugs to cure pain which had fewer side-effects and worked [...]
Tidjane Thiam quits Prudential for Credit Suisse: The exit of a chief exec who defied the odds March 10, 2015 Back in 2010, you would never have expected Tidjane Thiam to receive this reaction on his departure from Prudential. An ill-fated acquisition bid left shareholders fuming – the attempt to buy AIA for £21bn saw the insurer lose £373m and Thiam took the blame. On top of that, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) censured him, fining [...]
Kier Group’s 2015 international contracts already total £145m January 19, 2015 CONSTRUCTION firm Kier Group announced yesterday that it has been awarded over £145m of new construction contract awards in the Middle East since the start of the year. In Dubai, the property, residential, construction and services group has been named preferred bidder for a £100m mixed-use development and two infrastructure contracts totalling £15m. Meanwhile, the [...]