Expansion in UK construction is strongest in over six years – but where are the homes? December 3, 2013 As the Bank of England pulls away the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) mortgage incentives the UK's construction sector has seen a huge beat. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector rose from 59.4 to a staggering 62.6 in November. Analysts had expected a fall to 59.0. That's the highest level since August 2007. [...]
Building’s brisk growth driven by new houses December 3, 2013 BRITISH builders are recovering rapidly as the economy begins to turnaround, recording the fastest expansion in business for over six years in November. The latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply hit its highest level since August 2007. On its own, residential construction surged at the quickest [...]
Boris Johnson pledges £1bn to help create thousands of homes November 25, 2013 BORIS JOHNSON launched a £1bn plan yesterday that he pledged would build thousands of affordable homes for low-income households in London. Delivering his draft housing strategy in Greenwich yesterday, the Mayor of London said the £1bn will help deliver 45,000 more low cost homes into the next mayoral term. The £1bn is part of the [...]
City Moves for 20 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 19, 2013 Herbert Smith Freehills The law firm has announced the appointments of Sonya Leydecker (right) and Mark Rigotti as joint chief executives. Leydecker joined the firm in 1984 and was promoted to partner in 1991. Rigotti joined in 1988, and has since held senior roles including head of banking and head of corporate. KPMG The professional [...]
Derwent buys £39m tech site November 13, 2013 DERWENT London said yesterday it has splashed out £39m on an office building in Clerkwenwell as the developer reported record lettings. Derwent said 19 Charterhouse Street sits in London’s “tech belt” from Whitechapel to Kings Cross, which is benefitting from the burgeoning technology sector. In a trading statement, the group said it had achieved record [...]
The Power of Three: How big business could join government to support small companies March 10, 2014 IF I received a pound for every time a chief executive of a large firm said to me “we’d like to be the champions of small business”, I’d be comfortably off. However, over the past year, I’ve seen an increasing number of businesses not only voicing this statement, but acting on it. This is a [...]
Public sector loath to build link between performance and pay January 15, 2013 REFORMING the public sector could be compromised if state employees cannot be convinced that their pay should reflect how well they do their job, a human relations body said this morning. Only 36 per cent of public staff came out in favour of performance-related pay in a survey released this morning, carried out by the Chartered [...]
UK’s services firms still building confidence as growth returns November 25, 2013 UK SERVICES are still building strength as the year comes to a close, with the quickest increase in optimism for 15 years recorded in the three months to November. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reports buoyant conditions for the UK’s largest sector today, boding well for the fourth quarter’s GDP figures – employment and business [...]
Portugal passes 2014 budget as protesters rail against austerity November 26, 2013 PORTUGAL’S parliament passed the country’s 2014 budget yesterday, the last under its three-year EU/IMF bailout, but its approval is likely to trigger court challenges that could disrupt the country’s exit from the bailout programme. Several thousand unionists and pensioners converged in front of the building to protest the budget’s public-sector wage and pension cuts, which [...]
The only solution to the housing crisis: build, build and build February 20, 2014 BRITAIN is building again at last – or so the government would like us to believe. On the face of it, it has a point: the latest homebuilding statistics reveal that starts on new homes in 2013 totalled 122,590, up 23 per cent on the previous year, and the highest since 2007, according to the [...]