Bank of England quarterly bulletin says that cash isn’t dead just yet September 15, 2015 Reports of the death of cash have been greatly exaggerated, the Bank of England claims. Well, not perhaps greatly exaggerated, but certainly a little premature. "Over the next few years, consumers are likely to use cash for a smaller proportion of the payments they make," Tom Fish and Roy Whymark of the Bank’s notes directorate said in [...]
“We write what we want”: OBR chief Robert Chote reappointed after playing down Treasury influence over summer Budget economic forecasts September 15, 2015 Robert Chote has been reappointed as chief of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) following a grilling from MPs in which he fended off accusations that the watchdog had been influenced by the Treasury in its analysis of the summer Budget. However, the saga is not yet over as more evidence has been demanded from [...]
Telecoms and energy companies come out bottom for customer satisfaction – finance sector most popular September 15, 2015 Hate your mobile phone provider? Join the crowd. Telecoms and energy companies have come out bottom in a customer satisfaction survey, and with average approval ratings of 69 and 68 per cent, respectively, the sectors are clearly failing to impress customers. BT clocks in at 63 per cent, TalkTalk at 64 per cent, Vodafone at [...]
Red tape drives up costs for small businesses ahead of inflation September 15, 2015 The cost for small businesses of complying with regulations is soaring ahead of inflation, despite improvements in the economy and pledges by the government to cut red tape, a leading business group has warned. The Forum of Private Business, which represents thousands of small businesses across the UK, said that 86 per cent of members [...]
Reports: Deutsche Bank cutting 23,000 jobs September 15, 2015 Deutsche Bank is laying off a quarter of its workforce, according to news agency Reuters. Some 23,000 jobs are affected, mostly in the bank’s technology and back office operations and through selling its PostBank unit, sources have said. The layoffs come just three months after new chief executive John Cryan took over the helm of [...]
Peckham High Line: Boris Johnson backs plans for Peckham rails tracks to be turned into New York’s High Line-style urban park September 15, 2015 Boris Johnson has thrown his weight behind a project to turn disused railway tracks in Peckham into an “elevated urban park” to rival New York’s High Line. The London mayor said he will invest £285,000 in 20 local community projects across 15 boroughs as part of his £9m High Street Fund set up last year [...]
London and the South East push up UK house prices in July, but property gets cheaper in Scotland and the North East September 15, 2015 House prices climbed 0.8 per cent July, the Office for National Statistics said this morning, keeping annual house price growth above five per cent. Year-on-year price growth was 5.2 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent in June. The East, South East and London led UK’s annual price growth, while houses actually got cheaper in Scotland [...]
British Land’s Leadenhall Building Cheesegrater has two new tenants Petredec and Fidelis Insurance September 15, 2015 The City's iconic Cheesegrater has two new tenants, leaving just five floors available at the Leadenhall Building. British Land and Oxford Properties, the developers behind the Cheesegrater (aka Leadenhall Building), today announced that global energy company Petredec and Fidelis Insurance were moving in. Oil and gas company Petredec, which will use the office space for its European [...]
Aberdeen Asset Management buys Advance Emerging Capital September 15, 2015 FTSE100-listed Aberdeen Asset Management is to buy investment manager Advance Emerging Capital outright. The deal for AEC – which currently has £409m assets under management across a range of funds, including the Advance Developing Markets fund and the Advance Frontier Markets fund – is expected to complete during the fourth quarter. The [...]
iPhone 6s sales on track to beat Apple’s records September 15, 2015 Apple said yesterday that sales of its new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are on track to beat last year’s record-breaking iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales on the first weekend they hit the shops. “Customer response to iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been extremely positive and pre-orders this weekend were very strong [...]