HSBC lays down the gauntlet to George Osborne on bank levy as it mulls exit from UK June 9, 2015 HSBC moved a step closer to leaving the UK yesterday, piling pressure on chancellor George Osborne to take action to persuade the bank to stay. Chief executive Stuart Gulliver set out details of HSBC’s review of the location of its headquarters, looking at 11 different criteria, including taxes, the government’s attitude to finance, and [...]
Why a compulsory living wage is not the best way to help society’s poorest June 8, 2015 The Living Wage Foundation – which lobbies employers to pay £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere – has never called for statutory implementation of its cause. It considers itself to be a pragmatic civil society movement, encouraging firms to pay their low-paid workers enough to live comfortably. But the campaign has been hijacked [...]
BBC TV centre homes to go up for sale July 27, 2015 Homebuyers will soon be able to own a slice of TV history. Kasmira Jefford reports. THE scenery block at the former BBC Television centre in London’s White City is eerily quiet. For over 50 years the cavernous space used to bustle with carpenters and designers assembling sets for some of Britain’s best known programmes, including [...]
Osborne will have to face up to Britain’s pensioners if he wants to tackle debt June 17, 2015 George Osborne promised last week to legally bind future governments into lowering debt. Thanks to one of his own policies, that debt ambition will be much harder to meet unless reforms are undertaken today. The problem is the “triple lock” on the basic State Pension, the main benefit for retired people which is received by [...]
July Budget 2015: Every key policy announced today July 8, 2015 George Osborne revealed the first Budget of the government, including policy changes on everything from pensions and inheritance tax to bank levies and the Northern Powerhouse. Here we round up all the essential points from the Red Box. 1. A surplus will be reached by 2019 Osborne pledged to reduce the deficit by [...]
Behold the era of market meddling: Whoever wins the General Election, the age of intervention is upon us April 23, 2015 In the run up to every General Election, the business community voices its concerns over what a Labour government would mean for UK plc. There is the regular letter to The Telegraph, signed by 100 business leaders, in a show of support for the Conservatives. There is much worry, and some hysteria too. Many readers [...]
Mitie share price rises despite homecare and house building struggles May 18, 2015 The figures Shares in FTSE 250-listed waste management outsourcer Mitie opened over three per cent higher at 297p this morning after it heralded a year of "significant progress" with rises in revenue, profit and earnings. In its results for the year ending 31 March, Mitie reported a 5.8 per cent rise in revenue to £2.3bn [...]
UK wins rare victory in EU courts over sites of euro clearing houses March 4, 2015 LONDON will not lose its euro-denominated clearing houses to finance centres in the Eurozone, as the European Court of Justice ruled in Britain’s favour on the controversy. The European Central Bank (ECB) had tried to force clearing houses to move into the Eurozone. That would harm the UK which is the biggest centre for clearing euro-denominated [...]
Why Canning Town’s Rathbone Market is the perfect first-time purchase March 26, 2015 The Rathbone Market development near Canning Town is releasing a collection of new contemporary Shared Ownership homes. The two-bed flats will be on the market for £345,000, with Notting Hill Housing Group offering to sell a share of 40 per cent (£138,000), making it affordable for anyone with a household income of £49,000 or higher. [...]
We can protect the City’s interests in Europe – and we now have the proof March 4, 2015 Wednesday 4 March 2015 could come to be seen as a defining moment in Britain’s relationship with the rest of the EU, and for the City of London in particular. This is because of a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) yesterday, which upheld a vital British claim protecting the City from Eurozone [...]