Insurance company of the year September 9, 2013 Insurance is the quiet success story of the British financial services industry. While UK banks continue to be hamstrung by government ownership and poor reputations, our insurers are powering ahead and selling to the world – prompting a construction boom in the City’s insurance district around Fenchurch Street. We were looking for companies that were [...]
Mortgage market is stagnating well below pre-crisis peak level January 21, 2013 MORTGAGE lending barely budged in 2012 despite hopes that the economy could be recovering and government-led efforts to improve credit conditions, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed. Total lending came in at an estimated £143bn for the year as a whole, hardly up on the £141bn recorded in 2011. But the industry body estimates [...]
Population growth is irrelevant: Institutions and incentives matter August 11, 2013 THE UK now has one of the fastest-growing populations in Europe, according to a new report by the Office for National Statistics. In just one year, the population grew by over 400,000 people (to a total of 63.7m), adding the equivalent of a city the size of Bristol. A growing population means growing demand for [...]
Capital Economics hikes UK growth forecast to over one per cent this year August 20, 2013 Capital Economics has nudged up its GDP forecasts for this year from 0.8 to 1.2 per cent this year as business surveys, retail sales figures, news on the housing market and consumer confidence indicate growing momentum in the second half. Growth next year is expected to accelerate, with Capital Economics now forecast growth of 2.0 [...]
A bold pro-growth strategy could set the UK’s housing market free October 16, 2012 BY 2025, China will have 221 cities with over 1m inhabitants, adding more than 350m to its urban population. In response, 40 billion square metres of new floorspace will be built. In contrast, here in London, there is a dynamic underground housing market for beds in sheds in Thornton Heath, Southall, and Stratford. Despite pressing [...]
A bold pro-growth strategy could set the UK’s housing market free October 16, 2012 BY 2025, China will have 221 cities with over 1m inhabitants, adding more than 350m to its urban population. In response, 40 billion square metres of new floorspace will be built. In contrast, here in London, there is a dynamic underground housing market for beds in sheds in Thornton Heath, Southall, and Stratford. Despite pressing [...]
Ben bottles it as Fed rejects QE tapering September 18, 2013 Stock markets surge as the US Federal Reserve decides not to start rolling back its easy money scheme US treasury yields dive and gold prices rocket after the shock move to wait at least another month Janet Yellen is now the favourite to take over from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke once he leaves his post [...]
The real reason why energy prices are spiralling out of control October 17, 2013 LIKE most readers, I have had my run-ins with energy companies. One especially pushy door to door salesperson once tried to forcefully convince me that I needed to sign up to his firm because I had just moved into a new home. Fortunately, I wasn’t naïve enough to succumb to his lies but many others [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 August 2013 August 18, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES House of Fraser eyes London listing House of Fraser, the British department store chain, has considered a return to the public markets to help simplify its ownership structure. The group is mulling a listing in London, although this is being considered alongside other options to allow shareholders to exit the group, said one [...]
Osborne has defeated Ed Balls – but UK’s economy still fragile September 9, 2013 WITH the economy finally growing much more quickly, it is no surprise that the chancellor chose yesterday to show off about it. He is certainly right to be celebrating having seen off Labour’s Ed Balls, whose strident opposition to modest cuts and claims they would inflict permanent havoc are no longer credible. Osborne is also [...]