City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 5, 2012 HSBC James Emmett has been appointed the bank’s head of global trade and receivables finance. He began his career at HSBC 17 years ago, and has held a variety of roles in trade finance, commercial banking, retail banking and strategy. Most recently, Emmett was head of strategy and planning for commercial banking. He replaces Rakesh [...]
Coalition must not become complacent on economic growth October 25, 2012 UNLIKE some commentators, I don’t think David Cameron did anything especially wrong yesterday. He hinted at Prime Minister’s Question Time that the economy was improving; he didn’t leak the GDP figures. The statistics will be published this morning; so there is little point speculating about them. But it is worth noting that when the Prime [...]
Coalition must not become complacent on economic growth October 24, 2012 UNLIKE some commentators, I don’t think David Cameron did anything especially wrong yesterday. He hinted at Prime Minister’s Question Time that the economy was improving; he didn’t leak the GDP figures. The statistics will be published this morning; so there is little point speculating about them. But it is worth noting that when the Prime [...]
CITY VIEWS | IS THE CITY SUFFERING FROM THE OLYMPIC EFFECT? August 1, 2012 GRAEME KALBRAIER CALL CONNECTION (LLOYDS OF LONDON) I don’t think City business has been affected by the Olympics at all, though I do think the smashing Olympic complex and the new Westfield complex is a people-magnet. PAUL ALLAN F W BERRINGER Walking around I can see retail activity is still robust, and there are a [...]
£5.5m to support high streets July 24, 2012 Nearly 400 struggling town centres have won support from a government programme that aims to help revive high streets. Fifteen will become “Portas Pilots” – named after retail consultant Mary Portas – and will receive investment and support from leading industry figures. Newly announced Portas Pilots in London include Lower Marsh and The Cut in [...]
CITY VIEWS | DO YOU THINK THE OLYMPICS WILL BE A BOOST TO THE ECONOMY? July 19, 2012 ALEX TROTT ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT I think it mainly will affect the retail sector, because of the amount of people coming into the area. I agree that London will attract more attention than usual. It’s a big player in the world. JOE CHICK SEB KEY ASSET MANAGEMENT I doubt there will be a profit overall, [...]
UK focus on ECB meeting outcome September 2, 2012 THURSDAY will be the highlight of the week for economists, with all eyes on results of the European Central Bank policy meeting. While the market waits to hear the latest plans to fix the Eurozone’s debt problem, the Bank of England will also be announcing its latest interest rate decision and asset purchase plan. However, [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WHAT DOES TODAY’S STATEMENT MEAN FOR LAND SECURITIES? July 18, 2012 ALAN CARTER INVESTEC Land Securities always does developments well, or at least that is what we have been told by them. This statement is going to need to hold true over the coming two years as developments come to fruition, at a time when the first signs of weakness are starting to appear. ‘Hold’. ALISON [...]
Westfield co-chief plans £3bn future investment into Britain July 30, 2012 AUSTRALIAN shopping mall developer Westfield plans to invest some £3bn expanding its presence in Britain, its co-chief executive said yesterday, providing a vote of confidence in the country’s struggling retail sector. The figure include the expansion of £2bn Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, proposals to redevelop Croydon’s Whitgift Centre and the development of the Broadway [...]
Next defies retail gloom with sales rise August 1, 2012 Next, Britain’s second-biggest clothing retailer, beat its target for first-half sales growth, helped by a particularly robust performance from its Directory home shopping business as the wet summer weather encouraged shoppers to go online. The firm, which trades from over 500 stores in the UK and Ireland, nearly 200 stores in over 30 countries overseas, [...]