Queen’s Speech 2015: Business community and others react to announcements on immigration, housing, employment, tax, Scotland and English devolution May 27, 2015 The Queen's Speech – the first full-Tory state opening of Parliament since 1996 – has come and gone. But what is the business community making of it all? Here are the best reactions so far. On the tax lock: Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants says: “This is a [...]
General Election 2015: City A.M. means business – vote Conservative May 5, 2015 Britain enjoyed the fastest growth in the G7 last year. It is in the middle of a jobs miracle, with 1.5m more full-time jobs and youth unemployment down by 175,000 since the coalition came to power. The best-paid one per cent is now paying more than ever to the Treasury: 27 per cent of income [...]
City Moves for 14 April 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 13, 2015 SunLife The financial services firm has appointed Emma Walker to lead its aggregator, digital, and customer experience teams. She joins from MoneySupermarket.com, where she was head of protection and non core insurance. LCH.Clearnet Steve Briscoe has been appointed group head of technology and operations at the clearing house. He joins from RBS, where he was [...]
The UK economy according to the OECD in six charts February 24, 2015 Andy Haldane, the Bank of England's chief economist, said last year that the economy "appears to be writhing in both agony and ecstasy." While the economy was growing at a faster rate that most of its rich counterparts, most people weren't benefiting from this because real wages were falling, and productivity, or output per hour work, [...]
Landlords should not be the scapegoats for uninventive politicians February 8, 2015 If you’re a landlord, you could be forgiven for feeling like the ills of the world are being laid at your door. The Tories held landlords responsible for stemming illegal immigration, making passport and identity checks a legal requirement before any tenancy agreement can be signed. Labour enlisted them in the fight against climate change [...]
Record results for Savills as market conditions improve across Europe and the US March 19, 2015 Savills has reported “record results” for 2014, with better market conditions aiding a return to profitability. The figures International expansion helped drive Savills' pre-tax profit up by 34 per cent to £104.3m in 2014, compared with £75.2m the year before. During the 12 months to 31 December, revenue for the London-listed property firm revenue [...]
Political risk is rising globally – with worrying consequences for markets April 1, 2015 Uncertainty about global and domestic politics is greater today than it has been for some years. It is therefore inevitable that political risk will play a more prominent role in capital market investment decisions than it has done for many years. Political risk is not a new phenomenon in markets. As early as 1294, the [...]
UK house prices pull away from Eurozone’s with 11.7 per cent on the year January 21, 2015 British house prices pushed ahead of those in other major economies towards the end of last year, official figures showed yesterday. While cheap money combined with growth in pay and rising employment has conspired to spark a housing market recovery in some countries, other parts of the EU are still falling behind. Only nations like [...]
Legal and General takes over lifetime mortgage provider February 9, 2015 THE UK’S biggest fund manager Legal and General has purchased mortgage provider Newlife Home Finance for £5m. Newlife Home Finance offer lifetime mortgages that allow customers to borrow against the value of their property and then pay the loan back once they die or go into long-term care. “Going forward we believe an increasing number of people [...]
Burger King delivery service launches in the UK bringing Whoppers straight to your door February 19, 2015 Burger King has just done something everyone has been hoping a fast food chain would do for years -launch a home delivery service. The US fast food giant is, for the very first time, offering to deliver burgers, fries (but not milkshakes) to homes across the UK in a new trial. Customers in selected areas [...]