What you need to know before the US open February 18, 2014 US stock futures point to a mixed open, following a three-day weekend. The first economic data in this week show the Empire Manufacturing Index, which gauges business activity for manufacturers in New York, fell from 12.51 to 4.48 in February. Analysts had expected a reading of 8.5. Outlook’s better, though – companies surveyed are expecting [...]
UK house prices jump 8.8pc from a year ago January 29, 2014 Figures from mortgage lender Nationwide have shown that house prices rose 8.8 per cent in January from a year earlier. UK house prices continued their forward march this month, increasing 0.7 per cent – their thirteenth monthly increase in a row – but slowing slightly, after December’s 1.4 per cent rise. This was still [...]
Property prices still deflating for Eurozone January 21, 2014 HOUSE prices are still falling in most of the European Union, while the UK bucks the continental trend with a surging property market. In the Eurozone, official statistics yesterday showed that prices fell 1.3 per cent between the third quarter of 2012 and the same period in 2013. The fall was smaller across the EU, [...]
All about insight May 18, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to All Response Media’s Colin Gillespie Founded in 1995, All Response Media is now widely seen as the UK’s leading customer acquisition agency. Colin Gillespie, its chief strategy officer, was one of its co-founders. He talks to City A.M. about digital, and what media agencies will look like in the future. How [...]
Letters to the Editor – 24/02 – Planning laws, Political banking, Best of Twitter February 23, 2014 Planning laws [Re: The only solution to the housing crisis: build, build and build, Friday] Well said. The iron grip on planning laws held by councils throughout the UK simply stops the housing market from functioning properly. Just a quick look through the government’s online “planning portal” reveals the complexity that builders must deal with. [...]
Carney backs big bonuses for top successful bankers February 17, 2014 SENIOR bankers should get big bonuses as long as the money is spread out over several years and can be clawed back if they make mistakes, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday. His argument runs counter to much of the criticism of high pay for bankers, as he favours the payouts when they [...]
Mortgages lead lending pickup but firms see less from banks January 30, 2014 The UK saw mortgage approvals hit a six-year high of 71,638 in December, up 29.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the Bank of England (BoE). Lending for mortgages led the marginal pickup in bank lending, which was up 1.3 per cent year-on-year in December. Home lending rose by £1.7bn in December, higher than the £1.05bn [...]
Letters to the Editor – 21/03 – Beer and bingo, Best of Twitter March 20, 2014 Beer and bingo [Re: No turning back: Four reasons Osborne’s Budget will matter, yesterday] This isn’t going to be remembered as the “slow and steady” Budget. It will be remembered as the “beer and bingo” Budget. This is unfortunate, because it will really be about savings and investment. Grant Shapps did George Osborne no favour. It [...]
Creativity and automation make better bed fellows than you might think March 30, 2014 @LiamWardProud IF YOU talk to any media agency executive about the current state of the industry, two themes are certain to come up: automated ad buying and branded content. On the one hand, marketing is being transformed by the rise of ad exchanges, with automated bidding replacing humans to ensure ads are pushed only to [...]
London housing outstrips country as prices rocket January 14, 2014 LONDON house prices are rising nearly four times as fast as properties outside the south east of England, as the recent heat in the housing market concentrates on the capital. The price of London property rose by 11.6 per cent in the 12 months to November 2013, while prices outside London and the south east [...]