Disruptive technology can rebuild manufacturing for the internet age September 30, 2012 BRITISH manufacturing is not finding it easy. Output shrank once again in the second quarter of 2012, having failed to deliver any significant growth in over a year. Once the workshop of the world, the UK has slipped down the manufacturing league tables. Does it matter? A few years ago, the answer from many economists [...]
Making Mr Nice: Don’t cry all the way to the bank October 21, 2012 THE girl was clearly nervous as her job interview got underway. I asked her why Australia had such a high inflation rate and I was incredulous at her answer: “I believe it is mostly ‘imported inflation’”. I pulled a face. “Imported inflation? How could that be possible when our biggest trading partner, Japan, has a [...]
Countrywide revenues grow July 25, 2012 Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency and property services group, will today announce that it has grown total revenues by 10 per cent in the last 12 months. The firm has made £20m on a year-to-date basis before tax and other factors are taken in account, on total income of £257m. The company expects the [...]
N+1 and Singer merge July 24, 2012 SMALL and mid cap company advisers Singer Capital Markets and N+1 Brewin yesterday announced plans to merge the two companies into a new business called N+1 Singer, in a tie-up first revealed in City A.M. earlier this year. The deal between the two houses will put the company in the top five corporate advisory and [...]
AA owner gears up for mooted insurance sale September 23, 2012 ACROMAS, the private equity backed owner of AA and Saga, has taken the first step in a possible break up of its portfolio after appointing Ernst & Young to value its business – opening the door for a sale of the firms. The heavily indebted investment house has to liquidate or refinance its assets by [...]
House prices nudge up in June July 5, 2012 House prices rose unexpectedly in June, though the housing market is likely to hold broadly steady in the remainder of 2012, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday. Halifax said house prices rose by one per cent in June, confounding economists’ forecasts for a 0.2 percent decline. House prices in May rose by 0.4 percent, a [...]
Building your house on government support does not provide the firmest of foundations August 20, 2012 BETWEEN a government practically falling over itself to offer support and the supply constraints that continue to dog the UK property sector, there are worse things to be, even in today’s difficult marketplace, than a housebuilder. As Bovis Homes proved yesterday, with a doubling of pre-tax profit in the first half of the year compared [...]
House prices soar in London July 2, 2012 House prices in London rocketed by 7.7 per cent in the year to May, the Land Registry said yesterday – far outperforming the 0.4 per cent rise seen across the UK. The most expensive property sold in May went for £18.5m in central London; the cheapest recent property was sold in Oldham for just £10,000, [...]
Renters can’t afford to buy July 16, 2012 Prospective first time buyers in the UK are being squeezed out of the property market, according to a survey released yesterday. Over four in 10 (42 per cent) of renters are unable to save for a deposit, while just under a third (31 per cent) are spending over half their post-tax income on rent, the [...]
The pace quickens for London’s investment bankers September 13, 2012 Maybe it was the news that Tony Blair had intervened to reignite the City’s biggest takeover of the year. Maybe it’s just the natural gathering pace of autumn, when business tends to hot up. Or maybe it’s the raw fear of job losses or even the hope of a more stable Eurozone backdrop. Whatever the [...]