Payouts for whistleblowers possible says Home Office October 10, 2013 People who are witnesses for the state in cases of corporate crime could be in line for payouts, under a new government strategy to target serious crime. (Release) The Home Office's cross-government proposal, the 'Serious and Organised Crime Strategy' states: The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office will consider the case for incentivising whistle [...]
Forget high speed rail. Driverless cars will revolutionise transport October 31, 2013 SOMETHING very exciting is about to happen in Milton Keynes, of all places. Starting in 18 months’ time, the Buckinghamshire town will host the first proper UK test of driverless cars. The trial will be modest by the standards of those happening elsewhere in the world – the hundred self-driving pods will use special lanes [...]
Forget high speed rail. Driverless cars will revolutionise transport October 29, 2013 SOMETHING very exciting is about to happen in Milton Keynes, of all places. Starting in 18 months’ time, the Buckinghamshire town will host the first proper UK test of driverless cars. The trial will be modest by the standards of those happening elsewhere in the world – the hundred self-driving pods will use special lanes [...]
City Moves for 25 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 24, 2013 Rowanmoor Group The pensions company has announced the appointment of Matthew Robinson as national sales director. Robinson has over 24 years’ experience in financial services, gained with Aegon UK and Scottish Equitable. Jones Lang LaSalle The real estate investment firm has recruited David McCosh as a director in its retail team. He joins from Stephen Kane. DAC Beachcroft [...]
Sorry to be a party-pooper, but this is the wrong kind of growth October 31, 2013 EVEN the Bank of England sometimes makes mistakes. It was forced to correct its most recent data on consumer borrowing yesterday, in a development that confirmed what many of us feared all along: credit is beginning to surge dangerously. Yes, the economy has rebounded; but in many ways we are seeing the wrong kind of [...]
Developers deny landbanking as Miliband vows to fine building firms sitting on valuable plots September 24, 2013 THE CONSTRUCTION industry yesterday rejected Ed Miliband’s suggestion that Britain's housing supply issues are caused by developers hoarding land, amid criticism of his willingness to confiscate land if firms that do not get building. “We will say to private developers you can’t just sit on land and refuse to build,” the Labour leader told his [...]
Kickstart institutional investment to build new homes for generation rent October 29, 2013 INVESTORS have long enjoyed a love/hate relationship with property. An asset class dominated by commercial real estate, it delivers diversification and a reasonable yield in the good times. But in difficult times, upward-only rent reviews vanish, and fund managers are left wrestling with high voids and bad debts. Residential real estate, meanwhile, has largely been [...]
Inside Track: Imperial’s Napier under pressure as shareholders rebel October 9, 2013 IT has been a poor week for the UK’s quoted tobacco companies. Even by the standards of a sector used to being the target of political hammerings, the suite of measures passed by MEPs on Tuesday was tough for investors to swallow: a ban on smaller packs, enlarged health warnings and new restrictions on products [...]
How Labour can deliver on its pledge and tackle London’s housing drought September 24, 2013 HAROLD Macmillan made his reputation – and became Prime Minister – after delivering on his pledge to build 300,000 houses a year in the early 1950s. As Ed Miliband made clear yesterday, when he promised that a Labour government would ensure that 200,000 new homes were built annually by 2020, we now need similar ambition. [...]
A City pro is out to save pensions September 29, 2013 Venture capitalist Edi Truell is injecting private equity thinking to the public sector. Michael Bow hears why. THE HIGH-OCTANE arena of venture capital is not a natural fit for the sedate world of town hall pensions. But just tell that to Edi Truell, the venture capitalist tasked with shaking up London’s £4.6bn public sector pension [...]