City property vital to London’s world standing March 13, 2011 LAST week I joined 15,000 leading practitioners from across the property industry at MIPIM, the international property conference hosted in Cannes every year. Contrary to what you may have read, I can assure you it is not all sun, champagne and parties on yachts. Throughout the week, I spoke publicly about the challenges facing the [...]
At a glance: All the crucial points from Osborne’s Budget for Growth March 23, 2011 THE ECONOMY/PUBLIC FINANCES The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised its growth forecast for the economy, blaming higher-than-expected inflation as a result of recent global commodity price shocks and the weather-affected final quarter of 2010. GDP growth has been revised down to 1.7 per cent in 2011. Growth is expected to peak at 2.9 [...]
UK insolvencies drop in 2010 January 24, 2011 BUSINESS failures declined by 18 per cent last year as the health of UK businesses improved, according to an insolvency index released today. The upturn was the first in two years, data company Experian revealed. The total number of insolvencies dropped from 24,209 in 2009, to 19,946 last year, it said – an 18 per [...]
Eurocrats back new tax on City March 8, 2011 THE European Parliament voted yesterday to slap a Tobin tax on all financial transactions that pass through Europe, in a bid to raise €200bn (£172bn) for EU?spending. The tax would disproportionately hit the City, Europe’s financial capital, at a time when banks are struggling to build up their capital bases. The EU?Parliament said the proposal, [...]
Cut business tax to 18pc, says CBI April 18, 2011 CORPORATION tax should be cut to 18 per cent in order to give a much-needed boost to the UK’s global competitiveness, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will demand today. Britain’s attractiveness plummeted between 2000 and 2010, the CBI said. The clock is ticking on the government to halt the decline and prevent businesses from [...]
RONSON BLAMES TOXIC IRISH BANKING ASSETS March 29, 2011 TO the Dorchester for the annual get-together of the great and the good in the property world, hosted by Gerald Ronson, Heron International’s remarkable boss. The 71-year old property sage and philanthropist, who briefly spent time in jail in the 1990s as a result of the Guinness share scandal, before staging a spectacular personal recovery, [...]
IoD: cut taxes and red tape February 6, 2011 TWO dozen policy changes to encourage growth could be made by the government at no extra cost to taxpayers, the Institute of Directors recommended today. The proposed reforms fall under 10 main areas for the coalition to focus on, the IoD said. The inherent tendency of governments to over-regulate requires a “game changer” in civil [...]
IoD: cut taxes and red tape February 6, 2011 TWO dozen policy changes to encourage growth could be made by the government at no extra cost to taxpayers, the Institute of Directors recommended today. The proposed reforms fall under 10 main areas for the coalition to focus on, the IoD said. The inherent tendency of governments to over-regulate requires a “game changer” in civil [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 12, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CITY INVESTOR CHIEFS BACK BANKING REVAMP City fund managers have broadly welcomed the reform drive sweeping Britain’s banking sector, in spite of vocal criticism from some institutions. “There is a largely silent majority of investors who believe that structural reform and tougher capital requirements are a good idea,” said James Alexander, head of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 12, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CITY INVESTOR CHIEFS BACK BANKING REVAMP City fund managers have broadly welcomed the reform drive sweeping Britain’s banking sector, in spite of vocal criticism from some institutions. “There is a largely silent majority of investors who believe that structural reform and tougher capital requirements are a good idea,” said James Alexander, head of [...]