Let local leaders rule on infrastructure projects January 15, 2016 We will have to wait until at least the summer before the government is ready to make a decision on airport expansion. Would you be surprised if it finds some reason to put it off again? No full-length runway has been built in the south east since the Second World War, and the continuing delay [...]
Budget 2016: The ‘Graph of Doom’ and the UK’s £100bn secret weapon March 16, 2016 Another budget, another round of public funding cuts. Whatever the efficacy of George Osborne’s latest round of cuts to public services, one thing is increasingly clear: while government backs British business to flourish and focuses on ensuring the UK is ‘living within its means’, someone must fill the growing public services gap. When projecting their future spending power [...]
The remarkable rise of east London: Zone changes signal a shift in the capital’s economy January 7, 2016 Amid the January gloom, rail commuters began their somewhat subdued return to work this week. Alongside headlines on fare increases and improvement works, a more unusual move was announced: a change to London’s fabled Tube map structure. Stratford and a clutch of other east London stations – largely in the borough of Newham plus Tower [...]
Business and the unions: We both back a third Heathrow runway – now get on with it March 10, 2016 We often read in the press about the latest bust-up between the unions and the business community. Yet there are any number of policies we agree on, especially those that help to deliver high-skilled quality employment and sustainable growth. Equally, we both get disappointed when the government falls short of the mark, particularly when the [...]
How Uber, Airbnb and other sharing economy platforms can win over hostile regulators and reach their full potential February 5, 2016 New research by Europe Economics has put the potential of the Sharing Economy at up to £572bn a year in savings across the EU thanks to increases in the utilisation of assets like cars, homes and consumer goods. Right now those assets often spend most of the time gathering dust, costing their owners money. They [...]
Fixing the sink estate we’re in: Institutional cash is already building homes in London January 10, 2016 Despite London’s status as a safe haven for investors, for many living on crumbling housing estates it’s anything but. For decades politicians have ignored the link between poor housing are various social ills. While Tony Blair did much to help cities, he did little for housing. Today’s plans to redevelop sink estates by harvesting institutional capital should therefore be [...]
London parking prices: Councils are making a mint from parking charges December 7, 2015 Councils across the country are raking in £1.9m every single day from parking, with the London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea , Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham and Wandsworth pocketing more than anywhere else in the country. The four locations in the capital made £148m between them – more than £400,000 every single day – from parking charges and penalty notices, accounting for [...]
Selling off surplus public sector land could lead to more than 100,000 new homes in London March 31, 2015 Over 100,000 homes could be built in London surplus public land was sold back into the marketplace. The findings are one of a number of points made in an analysis of the London Land Commission that was set up George Osborne in February. Business group London First and law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, believe that [...]
Boris Johnson isn’t going to Cannes property bash Mipim this year March 3, 2015 Boris Johnson won't attend property knees-up Mipim this year, for the first time during his tenure as mayor of London. Boris has traditionally been a vocal proponent of London's many development opportunities at the conference, for which 20,000 developers, investors, agents and civil servants descend on Cannes for a week of deal-making and revelry each [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne’s speech in full March 16, 2016 George Osborne has just revealed the Budget for 2016. There was good news for businesses with corporation tax being sliced and business rates being reformed – but bad news for smokers and students who hate maths. Mr Deputy Speaker, Today I report on an economy set to grow faster than any other major advanced economy in [...]