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☆ UK leads resurgence in European office investment
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesLONDON — The U.K. is leading a recovery in Europe's long subdued office real estate market, with overall investment in the sector expected to pick up further in the second half of the year. Overall, European office investment transactions in the first half of the year fell 21% year-on-year to 14.1 billion euros, Savills data showed — a 60% decrease on the five-year H1 average. Europe's divided recoveryThe U.K. real estate market was the first in Europe to undergo a significant contraction following its peak in 2022. "London is leading the way a bit, partly because it repriced earlier and quicker and more significantly," Kim Politzer, head of research for European real estate at Fidelity International, told CNBC over the phone. Kim Politzer head of research for European real estate at Fidelity International

Persons: Mike Barnes, Savills, Kim Politzer, Marcus Meijer, Mark, CNBC's, James Burke, Tom Leahy, Leahy, Europe's, JLL Organizations: Getty, Britain, CNBC, Bank of, Fidelity International, European Central Bank, Nurphoto, U.S Locations: London, Europe, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg, La Défense, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Southern Europe, Germany

☆ Opinion: Ukraine’s new weapon against Russia? Lego
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Opinion Roy Schwartz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Pictured in Lego miniature is Kyiv’s Golden Gate, released as part of United24's second wave of Ukrainian monument replicas. The inspiration for a Lego campaign came from these initiatives and from Lego Architecture, an adult-oriented line of sets recreating iconic landmarks. The second wave, #UKRAINEinLEGObricks, released last month, includes Kyiv’s Golden Gate, Crimea’s Khan Palace, Lviv’s Oblast’s Pidhirtsi Castle, Odesa’s National Academic Opera and Mykolaiv’s Astronomical Observatory. Mykolaiv’s Astronomical Observatory is featured in Lego's second wave of monument recreations. UNITED24All models are made from authentic Lego bricks, though the Lego company isn’t affiliated with the project nor the artists building the sets.

Persons: Roy Schwartz, Volodymyr Zelensky, Yaroslava Gres, Gres, United24, isn’t, Brick, Mark Segedie, ”, ” Eric Law, he’d, “, Law, ” Gres, there’ll Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, CNN, Russia, Deloitte, US, Council, Foreign Relations, World Bank, Lego Foundation, Lego Architecture, Opera, raffles, Velykokostromska Locations: royschwartz.com, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Chicago, Khan, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, American, Tacoma

☆ British retail sales plunge 2.3% in April, missing estimates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People walk in the rain over the London Bridge in central London on March 12, 2024. Lucy North - Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty ImagesLONDON — U.K. retail sales volumes dropped 2.3% in April as wet weather deterred shoppers, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. "Sales volumes fell across most sectors, with clothing retailers, sports equipment, games and toys stores, and furniture stores doing badly as poor weather reduced footfall," the ONS said. Sales were up 0.7% across the three months to April compared to the previous three months following a weak December and holiday season, but were down 0.8% year on year. watch nowKris Hamer, director of insight at the British Retail Consortium, pointed to bright spots in the data in cosmetics and computer sales.

Persons: Lucy North, Kris Hamer, Hamer, GfK Organizations: National Statistics, Reuters, British Retail Consortium, Bank of England's Locations: London

☆ The UK is the 2nd-most miserable country in the world, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The UK is the second-most miserable country in the world, a new report said. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe UK is the second-most miserable country in the world, a new global well-being index said. Only Uzbekistan came lower in the rankings, which were published in the US nonprofit Sapien Labs' Mental State of the World Report earlier this month. The World Happiness Report 2023 suggested the UK was the 19th happiest country in the world.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin's, Bridge Lucy Organizations: Service, Sapien Labs, Mental State, Sapiens Labs, Britain, Labs, Bridge Locations: Uzbekistan, Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ukraine, Yemen, Western

☆ $1 Million Homes in London
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Marcelle Sussman Fischler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nunhead Green | £795,000 ($1.01 million)A semi-attached, renovated two-bedroom, one-bath Victorian cottage with a contemporary interior and front and rear gardens. The London skyline is visible from the parklike Nunhead Cemetery. Neighboring Peckham Rye has an expansive park and common area with a Japanese garden, sports facilities, cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. From the Peckham Rye station, rail service takes ten minutes to London Bridge and 15 minutes to Victoria. A built-in white sink with a high arc brass faucet and the refrigerator are at the far end.

Organizations: Conservation, London Bridge Locations: Southeast, London, Peckham Rye, Victoria, bookshelves

☆ Why Americans drive on the right and the British on the left
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Conestoga wagons were developed by local carpenters and blacksmiths to carry goods, including farm produce and items bartered from Native Americans, to markets in Philadelphia. An original 19th century Conestoga wagon at the Conestoga Area Historical Society in Conestoga, Pennsylvania in 2024. For just that reason, Conestoga wagons had the controls on the left side, close to the wagon driver’s right hand. Lay, was that all traffic had to stay to the right — just like the Conestoga wagons did. on September 3, 1967 when cars switched from left to right side driving.

Persons: I’ve, Cooper, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry Ford, that’s, Tesla, John Stehman, Peter Valdes, ‘ Gee, ” Stehman, “, ”, M.G ., Ford, Maximilien Robespierre —, —, Napoleon, William Van, Yevgenia Organizations: Conestoga, CNN, Ford, Historical Society, M.G, Lions, Hulton, Getty, Ford Motor Co, Guildhall Library, Art, Britain, Avis, Avis Budget Group, ” Avis Budget Locations: England, London, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Conestoga , Pennsylvania, Conestoga, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia . Philadelphia, Lancaster County , Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Lancaster, New York, Britain, Paris, France, Stockholm, Sweden

☆ Round and Round We Go: Circular Strolls Near London
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Susanne Fowler | More About Susanne Fowler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For example, a 70-minute train ride from Liverpool Street station to the town of Manningtree in Essex county is the starting point for discovering the Stour Valley scenery that inspired the painter John Constable. The approximately 3½-hour, 7½-mile trail passes through the village of Dedham, once a flourishing textile center, and where Constable attended grammar school. Depending on the season, you might see five-petal primroses in sun-dappled hedgerows, cowslips on grasslands where sheep graze, dainty white wood anemones or even orchids. On the 4-hour, 8½-mile walk from Limpsfield in Surrey (30 minutes from London Bridge station), famed for its carpet of sweet-scented bluebells in late spring, bird-watchers can listen for nightingales or spot hawks circling overhead. I chose this destination because it included the pebble beach along Sandwich Bay and because I’ve always wanted to tick a box off my bucket list by having a sandwich in Sandwich.

Persons: John Constable, Constable, I’ve Organizations: Liverpool Street, London Locations: Manningtree, Essex county, Dedham, Limpsfield, Surrey, Wye, London’s St, Pancras, Sandwich, Kent, St

☆ UK's next government will find tax rises hard to avoid
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But tax rises will be very hard to avoid for whichever party forms the next government, says James Smith, a former Bank of England economist who is research director at the Resolution Foundation, which focuses on issues affecting low and middle earners. For earlier governments, the main way to increase tax levels has been to raise the rate of national insurance - a payroll tax paid by employers and employees - and, in the Conservatives' case, higher value-added tax. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.0% from 2010-2019, compared with 3.0% from 1997-2007. Asked on Sunday about widespread reports of looming tax cuts, Hunt told Sky News: "Everything is on the table ... Higher-than-expected inflation has boosted tax revenue and overall GDP in cash terms, giving more leeway against fiscal targets as most public services' spending budgets are fixed.

Persons: Susannah Ireland, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak's, James Smith, Smith, Britain's, It's, Carl Emmerson, Hunt, Foundation's Smith, David Milliken, Mike Harrison Organizations: REUTERS, Labour Party, Bank of England, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, Britain, Conservatives, Fiscal Studies, Foundation, Reuters, Monetary Fund, Institute for Government, Sky News, British, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, Ukraine

☆ UK economy fails to grow in Q3 but sidesteps start of a recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People walk over London Bridge looking at a view of Tower Bridge in the City of London financial district in London, Britain, October 25, 2023. REUTERS/ Susannah Ireland/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Britain's sluggish economy failed to grow in the July-to-September period but at least managed to avoid the start of a recession, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. In the month of September on its own, the economy grew by 0.2% from August when growth was revised down to 0.1% from 0.2%. "But the key point is that the economy is not weak enough to reduce core inflation and wage growth quickly," Dales said. In the three months to September, output in Britain's huge services sector fell by 0.1%, industrial production was broadly flat and construction grew by 0.1%, the Office for National Statistics said.

Persons: Susannah Ireland, Paul Dales, BoE, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, William Schomberg, Andy Bruce, Sarah Young Organizations: REUTERS, Office, National Statistics, Reuters, Capital Economics, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, Germany, United States

☆ London hotspots brightened with colourful new artwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Sarah Mills/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Busy spots in London are being brightened up by the work of British-born artist and designer Adam Nathaniel Furman who is on a mission to create quality background art. "I have a great passion for colourful interventions in public space that are beautifully crafted," Furman said. In the London Bridge area, another of Furman's projects "A Thousand Streams" is taking shape on a long concrete wall being decorated with an intricate handmade mosaic. Furman designed the piece for the London School of Mosaic, whose volunteers are working on it with completion expected in 2024. As for the future, Furman would like to add to the landscapes of cities around the world, saying it is often artwork people value in their surroundings the most.

Persons: Adam Nathaniel Furman, Sarah Mills, Furman, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, London School of Mosaic, Thomson Locations: Canary Wharf, London, Britain

☆ Suspected fraud flagged on UK COVID-19 loans jumps 43%
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The latest figures from the Department for Business and Trade showed the level of suspected fraud as of June 30. The figure was up from the previous level of 1.18 billion pounds flagged at the end of March. Identified fraud levels have ticked up as banks look into further COVID-19 loans as they fall due. The figures show the government has paid out 7.39 billion pounds to lenders to date under the guarantees, while 17 billion pounds has been fully repaid by borrowers. Nearly 31 billion pounds' worth of loans are outstanding from borrowers still making payments on time, the data shows.

Persons: Britain's, Toby Melville, Banks, Iain Withers, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Department for Business, Trade, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, COVID

Fundraising and deal-making have dropped sharply at European private debt funds, new data shows. Faisal Ramzan, a partner at law firm Proskauer Rose who advises private credit funds, said he was not seeing default. "There's plenty of dry powder," said Fidelity International's head of private credit strategies Michael Curtis, referring to capital raised already. Joanna Layton, managing director of European private credit at Alcentra, one of Europe's largest private debt managers, added there was "no rush" to deploy capital. High rates have also made private credit less appealing to institutional investors, analysts said.

Persons: Henry Nicholls, Francesco Sandrini, BoE, Andrew Cruickshank, Cruickshank, Pictet, Patrick Marshall, Faisal Ramzan, Proskauer Rose, Michael Curtis, Joanna Layton, Mark Brenke, Ardian, Chris Sier, Sier, Dhara Ranasinghe, Catherine Evans Organizations: City, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics Reuters, The Bank of, European Central Bank, Graphics, Deloitte, Fitch, Federated Hermes, Fidelity International, ClearGlass, Thomson Locations: London's, London, Britain, The Bank of England

☆ UK hiring falls at fastest pace in over three years, wage growth slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Workers travel through London Bridge rail and underground station during the morning rush hour in London, Britain, September 8, 2021. A gauge of permanent staff hiring by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and accountants KPMG fell to 42.4, the lowest since the 34.3 in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While starting pay for new permanent staff rose sharply by pre-pandemic standards, the rate of wage growth was the lowest since April 2021, REC said. Official data showed unemployment rose to 4% in the three months to May, a 16-month high, although annual wage growth remained at a record high of 7.3% in cash terms. REC said the availability of both temporary and permanent workers to fill jobs hit the highest since December 2020.

Persons: Toby Melville, Neil Carberry, Claire Warnes, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: REUTERS, KPMG, REC, Bank of England, BDO, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

☆ How AI’s astonishing productivity gains could help curb inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Experts say the technology will help address a steep and prolonged slowdown in productivity growth in many Western economies, which has kept businesses’ costs higher than they would otherwise be and made inflation harder to tame. “AI has huge potential to increase productivity,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said at the company’s Investor Day last month. Productivity gains in Europe could be similar, albeit slightly smaller, Brynjolfsson told CNN. In some cases, productivity gains could be achieved sooner. That’s because most generative AI tools live on the internet — “the technology we already have on our desks” — making them widely accessible, Brynjolfsson said.

Persons: chatbot, —, Smart, Hannes P Albert, Bill Gates, Larry Fink, Erik Brynjolfsson, ” David McMillan, ” McMillan, Hollie Adams, Neil Shearing, Martin Neil Baily, Anton Korinek, Brynjolfsson, Goldman Sachs, ” Organizations: London CNN, Microsoft, BlackRock, CNN, Stanford University, Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, OECD, University of Stirling, Bloomberg, Getty, “, National Statistics, IBM, Capital, Brookings Institute, University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, America, Productivity, Google, SAP, Goldman Locations: East, Scotland, London, United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Wimbledon

☆ Ornate Roman mausoleum found beneath London construction site
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —An “incredibly rare” Roman mausoleum has been discovered beneath a south London construction site, archaeologists have said. A team from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) made the find in Southwark, close to the Thames River’s south bank. MOLAIn 2017, an excavation just a stone’s throw from the site uncovered a Roman sarcophagus. And in February last year, Roman mosaics approximately 1,800 years old were discovered at the site. The mausoleum will be restored and put on public display, Landsec Developers, which co-owns the site, told CNN.

Persons: MOLA, MOLA MOLA, Antonietta, Catherine Rose Organizations: London CNN, Museum of London, Borough Market, CNN Locations: London, Southwark, Britain, Borough, MOLA, London Borough

Several major finance companies also voluntarily reported ethnicity pay data for the period. The majority of major finance firms nonetheless made progress in narrowly closing their gender pay gaps, according to their disclosures. ETHNICITY PAY GAPSHalf of the 20 finance firms reviewed reported varying detail on ethnicity pay gaps, with some including insurer Phoenix doing so for the first time. Where pay gaps were further broken down by ethnicity, they showed the largest pay disparities were between Black and white employees. All the employers said in their pay gap reports they were taking steps to improve diversity, particularly at senior levels.

☆ ‘Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester’ Review: The Nearly Sunk and Future King
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Henry Hitchings | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

There are three million shipwrecks scattered across the ocean floor. Only a tiny number of these have been explored. This 117-foot craft had sunk in May 1682 after hitting a sandbank, while carrying the Duke of York, the future King James II of England. But only in June last year was the wreck formally identified—and hailed as the most significant maritime discovery since Henry VIII’s warship the Mary Rose was raised in 1982. Another find is a silver teaspoon, with an engraving that suggests it belonged to one of James’s huntsmen, Thomas Jory, a “saucy fellow” who hid under a seat on a rescue boat as the Gloucester went down.

☆ Britain’s NHS was once idolized. Now its worst-ever crisis is fueling a boom in private health care
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Private hospital groups flourishTo keep up with growing demand for their services, private health care providers are expanding at a rapid clip. CEO Justin Ash estimates that the market for private health care in the United Kingdom has doubled since before the pandemic to 15 million people. Ash said that appetite for private health care spans a much broader set of ages and incomes than in the past. “We’ve clearly moved into a world in which we’re all NHS patients but have episodes of private care,” he said. There is no universal health care in America and most people have private health insurance because health care is very expensive.

☆ I've missed my kids' birthdays and Christmas as a lifeboat volunteer. I can't bear thinking about someone going into the water without anyone to help.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Marc Shoffman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He has missed work, birthdays, and Christmas Day to save lives at sea. Being an RNLI volunteer can create issues at work and requires a sympathetic bossI was once loading a truck while working for the window-plastics supplier when the pager went off. My RNLI work is all voluntary, but we get an allowance for travel and food. I've missed some of my three daughters' birthdays and couldn't drink at my sister's wedding because I was on call. This is the first Christmas I won't be volunteering, as I am doing the night shift at Gatwick.

☆ A day in the life of a 20-year-old Gen Z venture capitalist in London's bustling startup scene
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But he said older VCs he's interacted with mostly tend to disagree and stick to emails when interacting with founders. Nathwani strayed into venture capital after finishing his A-Levels, as it looked like a good way to marry his interests in social impact and investing. He spoke with a few investors and a founder as part of his job as a summer associate at Social Impact Capital. He spent most of the morning working on an impact report for Social Impact Capital. 2:30 p.m.Nathwani used some time after lunch to do more work for Social Impact Capital and wade through his 30,000 unread emails.

☆ UK asset managers urge company bosses to show restraint on pay hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"With the cost-of-living crisis hitting UK households, investors want to see companies show restraint on executive pay and bonuses, ensuring that executive pay packets are balanced against the experiences of their wider workforce, customers, and other stakeholders," Andrew Ninian, IA director for stewardship and corporate governance, said on Thursday. With UK inflation more than 10% at a 40-year high, the IA said pay increases in line with rising prices may not be appropriate. The retention and motivation of employees below the executive level will be key and board decisions could affect productivity of the whole workforce, the IA said. Companies should also spell out how executive bonuses will be linked to meeting their environment, social and governance targets in future years, the IA said. ($1 = 0.8740 pounds)Reporting by Huw Jones Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK hiring falls as political upheaval adds to employers' worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - British employers cut their hiring of permanent staff via recruitment firms for the first time in nearly two years in October as the country's political upheaval added to concerns about the economy, a survey showed on Thursday. Hiring of temporary workers stagnated and wage growth for permanent new staff was its weakest in a year and a half. But permanent staff availability remained an acute problem for employers with workers less likely to switch roles or seek new jobs, REC said. Starting salaries increased at the slowest pace in 18 months and temporary pay growth was the weakest since May 2021. The REC survey was conducted between Oct. 12 and Oct. 25, a period that included the date of Truss announcing that she would resign as prime minister on Oct. 20.

☆ Reversing UK confidence crash requires policy U-turn: economists
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Commuters, reflected in windows of an office, walk across London Bridge toward the financial district, in London, Britain, September 26, 2022. "The first step in regaining credibility is not saying incredible things," Summers said on Twitter on Tuesday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSummers pointed to surging interest rates of long-dated British debt as a "hallmark of situations where credibility has been lost". On Monday the Bank of England and Treasury released statements in the hope of reassuring investors, with the central bank saying it would not hesitate to raise interest rates if needed. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterEditing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral Plans Were Decades in the Making
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Max Colchester | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—A few years ago, officials at Buckingham Palace rented out an aircraft hangar to mock up Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state in Westminster Hall, where they paraded around a replica catafalque with no coffin on it to practice for a historic moment that would be witnessed by millions, according to a former royal official involved in the planning. It was just one piece in a vast jigsaw puzzle of preparations for the funeral plan, known as Operation London Bridge, that has seen 10 days of minutely choreographed pageantry, orchestrated by a uniquely British combination of aristocrats, military advisers, palace aides and civil servants. So far, the proceedings to celebrate and mourn the country’s longest-reigning monarch have gone off without a hitch.

☆ Королева Елизавета II по случаю дня рождения поблагодарила мир за поздравления и поддержку
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-21 | by ( ) ru.diez.md time to read: +1 min

Королева Великобритании Елизавета II в среду, 21 апреля, по случаю своего 95-летия поблагодарила за поздравления и поддержку семьи из-за смерти супруга герцога Эдинбургского. «По случаю своего 95-летия сегодня я получила множество сообщений с добрыми пожеланиями, которые я очень ценю. Моя семья и я хотели бы поблагодарить вас за всю поддержку и доброту, предоставленные нам в последние дни. Мы были глубоко тронуты и постоянно напоминаем о том, что Филипп оказал такое невероятное влияние на бесчисленное количество людей в течение всей своей жизни», — написала королева. Публичных торжеств не будет, поскольку королева продолжает придерживаться двухнедельного траура (до пятницы 23 апреля) из-за смерти мужа.

Persons: Елизавета, Эдинбургский, Филипп Organizations: Facebook, Содружество наций, Виндзорский дворец, Вооруженные силы Locations: Великобритания, Соединенное Королевство

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