More proof the Help to Buy Isa is pointless for first-time buyers in London? December 7, 2015 The Help to Buy Isa is the government's latest wizard wheeze to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder: under the scheme, they receive a £50 government "bonus" for every £200 they spend. But the launch of the scheme, at the beginning of this month, hasn't gone down quite as well as you might expect. [...]
Fitch: Emerging market weakness won’t create a global recession December 7, 2015 The world will avoid a global recession next year, despite weakness in emerging markets, a leading credit ratings agency has said – while the Federal Reserve will hike rates four times next year In fact, its forecast for next year paints a cautiously optimistic view of the world. Here's how it sees the world in [...]
German industrial production fails to stage a convincing rebound in October December 7, 2015 German industry struggled to rebound from two months of decline in October, according to official figures released today. German industrial production, which makes up nearly a third of the German economy, rose 0.2 per cent compared with September, data from Destatis shows. However, it declined sharply over the last two months and has failed to [...]
Bank of England: Poorly designed banker bonus clawbacks can actually encourage risk-taking December 7, 2015 Poorly designed banker bonus clawbacks can actually encourage risk-taking and short-termism, according to a new blog post by the Bank of England. It argues that bonuses linked to financial performance rather than risk management can encourage excessive risk-taking, as execs expect to suffer large losses when their firm performs poorly, meaning they’re more likely to [...]
House prices in City fringe areas of Shoreditch, Clerkenwell and Hoxton have surged by 62 per cent since 2008 December 7, 2015 House prices in London’s City fringe have surged since the crisis to outperform the wider London market, new research shows, thanks to the booming popularity of areas such as Shoreditch, Clerkenwell and Wapping to live as well as work. According to property advisory firm CBRE, average residential property prices in the City fringe have soared [...]
Oil prices could stay under $50 as defiant Opec fails to reach agreement on production levels December 7, 2015 Oil prices could remain stuck under $50 amid one of the worst supply gluts in history, as a defiant Opec failed to agree new production levels at an acrimonious meeting at the end of last week. Global benchmark Brent crude fell two per cent to $42.93 a barrel after the Vienna meeting and has stayed around that [...]
Permanent placements rocket up at their fastest rate for seven months while pay also increases December 7, 2015 Permanent job placements rose at their fastest rate for seven months in November, while pay also increased. According to a survey out today by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, 38 per cent of recruiters said they had placed more permanent staff during November than they did the month before, compared to 27 [...]
Almost half of firms failing to meet corporate governance standards, and not enough attention being paid to culture and values December 7, 2015 Almost half of FTSE 350 companies failed to measure up to all the standards in the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) UK Corporate Governance Code. In a report out today by professional services firm Grant Thornton, only 57 per cent of the 312 FTSE 350 companies with years ending between June 2014 and June 2015 studied [...]
EEF: Manufacturers are suffering their sharpest contraction in six years December 7, 2015 Manufacturers are going through one of their worse periods of growth since the 2009 recession, according to survey figures released by EEF, a trade body, today. The percentage of manufacturers that said output had fallen over the last three months outweighed the percentage who reported an increase by 12 percentage points. It marks the sharpest contraction [...]
Lloyds automotive report: Car makers fear exports will stall as global economy slows December 7, 2015 Britain's car makers are becoming more pessimistic on their growth prospects, citing a weak global economy as the main reason. A survey of 100 UK car firms showed the global economy was the biggest concern for 43 per cent of them, making it the top worry for the second year running. The figures from Lloyds [...]