Construction boom adds to growth hopes April 3, 2012 UK CONSTRUCTION sector activity expanded sharply in March as unusually mild weather boosted building orders, data revealed yesterday, raising hopes that Britain avoided a second consecutive quarter of economic contraction. The sector has grown in every month since January 2011, according to Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI). In March the figure hit 56.7, indicating a [...]
Calls mount for probe into the Bank of England’s role in crisis May 3, 2012 INFLUENTIAL MP Andrew Tyrie called for an inquiry into the Bank of England’s actions in the financial crisis yesterday, after Mervyn King claimed he saw bank problems building but was powerless to act. After years of refusing to hold an inquiry, Bank governor King yesterday suggested he would drop his opposition if one was proposed. [...]
UK firms are spending – but their money is going abroad April 15, 2012 PRIVATE firms are increasingly flush with cash. Profit margins globally are at record highs, and UK firms have been busy paying down debts and building financial reserves. So why are we not seeing an investment boom? As the Ernst and Young Item Club said this weekend, business investment rose by a miserable 1.2 per cent [...]
UK firms are spending – but their money is going abroad April 15, 2012 PRIVATE firms are increasingly flush with cash. Profit margins globally are at record highs, and UK firms have been busy paying down debts and building financial reserves. So why are we not seeing an investment boom? As the Ernst and Young Item Club said this weekend, business investment rose by a miserable 1.2 per cent [...]
Shaftesbury profits rise as West End sites fend off retail gloom May 23, 2012 THE PROSPEROUS West End continued to shelter Shaftesbury from the wider gloom in the retail sector as the London property firm posted a 15 per cent jump in first half profits. The company, which owns 500 properties across London’s key tourist hotspots including Carnaby Street and China Town reported a pre-tax profit of £16.1m in [...]
A vision of the future: how the rental sector can reward investors March 29, 2012 Institutional investors, such as pension funds and investment funds, have been debating whether to dip their toe in the residential property market for years. Such investment is the lifeblood of the UK’s commercial sector, but despite much talk, institutions have very little exposure to residential property. This fact has often been blamed on factors such [...]
Driverless cars show the journey of discovery is a long and winding road May 31, 2012 SOMETHING important happened in Spain this week, and not just the continuing revelations of the depths of its economic crisis. Volvo announced that on a motorway just outside Barcelona a convoy of four driverless cars drove 123 miles on a public road, among other road users, perfectly safely. The vehicles travelled at 53 miles an [...]
FTSE edges up as Lloyds gains May 1, 2012 The FTSE 100 clawed back some lost ground in early trading with Lloyds among the top gainers after quarterly results that matched forecasts. London’s blue-chip index ended April in negative territory yesterday – its second consecutive monthly loss – as concerns rose over Spain’s economy and political tensions in Europe took their toll. Meanwhile UK [...]
Let others take the burden as a passive career hunter May 30, 2012 WE’RE all job seekers now. That’s the message of recent Ipsos Mori research, commissioned by professional networking site LinkedIn. In a survey of 2,400 professionals, it found that 67 per cent felt the optimum time to spend on their career each day was 30 minutes or more. The survey took a broad, rather quaint, look [...]
Bank seeks new powers over lending March 25, 2012 NEW regulations cannot absolutely prevent the possibility of another financial crisis or of banks failing, a Bank of England policy maker announced just days after the Bank had pushed for stronger powers over the industry. The culture within banks, as well as changes to the structure of incentives, will be the most important changes, financial [...]