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Companies 12th April 2012

Ferrovial awarded Sheffield €2.4bn infrastructure maintenance contract

LONDON/MADRID | Sheffield City Council in England announced that Ferrovial Services’ subsidiary Amey was the preferred bidder for a contract to maintain the city’s infrastructure in a project worth £2 billion or €2.425 billion in revenues. The contract includes a 5-year programme of upgrade works, followed by maintenance for 25 years. The Ferrovial Services subsidiary will take responsibility for 1,900 km of road, 68,000 street lights, 500 traffic signals, 600 bridges and other structures, 2,400 retaining walls…

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In Europe 11th April 2012

One in ten UK business opts for remortgage instead of layoffs

LONDON | The cost of too many layoffs made during a steep crisis could leave a wide range of businesses unable to board the pick up economic train. So either it is optimism in the medium term or an honest belief in the coalition government’s mantra ‘we are all in this‘, but research from insurance firm More Than revealed Wednesday how small business owners are going to extraordinary lengths to…

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World economy 10th April 2012

Even UK unions might welcome London councils’ joint pension fund

LONDON | A proposed London Pensions Mutual would attempt to square the circle of austere consolidation and need for growth. The mega-pension fund could have assets in excess of £30 billion. It could also allocate up to 7.5% or £2.25 billion of its portfolio towards local infrastructure projects, taking advantage of changes announced by the coalition government in Downing Street to facilitate private investors’ and pension funds’ participation in UK infrastructure…

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World economy 10th April 2012

UK commercial real estate as depressed as the economy

LONDON | The retail property market in the UK continues to struggle, as demand for retail premises stuttered again in the first three months of 2012. This lack of interest in the sector combined with growing availability resulted in a further drop in rental expectations, the latest RICS UK Commercial Market Survey showed on Tuesday. Interest from potential tenants of retail space continued to fall in the first quarter of the…

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Markets 3rd April 2012

Switch on the sterling pound printers, Schroders advises Number 10

LONDON | Although under threats of a possible sovereign debt rating downgrade, the UK’s government showed how to take advantage of the little margin for manoeuvre available when presenting the 2012 budget. Some pro-business measures would boost growth, said investing management firm Schroders, but they will not be enough to avoid a return to the Bank of England’s monetary expansion programme. Schroders released its viewpoint over the coming months and pointed…

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In Europe 2nd April 2012

UK high streets need government funds as customers still paying for Christmas

LONDON | It might prove to be a time bomb for British high streets: one in five people aged between 18 and 44 are still trapped in debt they incurred in to cover consumption last Christmas. Research from Halifax shows that 14% of people are still paying for Christmas either on a credit card, through their overdraft or via a loan. However, fewer of the older generation are in the red…

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In Europe 29th March 2012

Tough: Britain is experiencing the worst recovery in its history

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | The United Kingdom learnt this week that in 2011 its economy grew by 0.4%, leaving the level of real GDP at 4.1% below the maximum point reached before the recession. The Bank of England, theoretically, has put in place successive programmes of monetary expansion, but what it has achieved is a rise in inflation up to 5%. Meanwhile, many blame budget cuts for the deficit of…

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In Europe 28th March 2012

UK economy approaches technical recession with -0.3% 4Q 2011 GDP

LONDON | UK growth behaviour turned up worse figures than expected for the final three months of 2011. The Office for National Statistics published Wednesday its revised estimate for gross domestic production growth for last year’s final quarter, showing that the economy contracted by more than previously calculated. Q4 GDP was cut from -0.2% to -0.3%, with most of the downward update being made to household and government expenditure, while the contribution…

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Markets 26th March 2012

Baring Barometer: only 10% of investment professionals fear a double dip recession

LONDON | Investment professionals in the UK favour a more pleasant global economic outlook than in previous quarters, although the sector still remains cautious. The results from the latest Barings Investment Barometer showed Monday an increase in optimism, with concerns over the risk of a double dip recession reduced by almost two-thirds and number of advisers citing it as a major global macroeconomic challenge at just 10%, down from 28% in Q4…

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In Europe 26th March 2012

Why on Earth is Mervyn King still governor of the Bank of England?

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Central bankers are incapable muppets covered with majestic pomp. The crisis has unveiled their naked, sad truth but what keeps them on their feet is that most people do not bother to properly scrutinise what they do and what they say. Crisis Maven is a blog devoted to analysing the words and actions of the Bank of England. It is a very curious case, that of…