Tag Archives: London

Our Christmas Soundtrack: the TopTen for You!

Good Morning! Wherever you are (office or home), whatever you are doing, enjoy our Christmas Soundtrack!

  1. Christmas is all around
  2. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
  3. Do You Hear What I Hear
  4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
  5. White Christmas
  6. Christmas Time Is Here
  7. Jingle Bells
  8. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  9. All I Want For Christmas Is You
  10. Christmas Day

A new fraud hits the financial world

A new act of fraud hits the world of business and finance. It may seem unbelievable but Bernard Madoff has stolen $50 billion with the use of a complex system of hedge funds. This system imitates the Ponzi’s system and if manipulated it can be used to commit multiple fraudulent acts. However this illegal act is unfortunately not fool-proof.
Mr Madoff is an American citizen and 70 years of age – he is a famous trader and businessman but now he finds himself in a cell: he risks incarceration for 20 years and paying $5 million, though the victim’s losses far exceed his fines.
The breadth of this case encompasses banks from many countries including British firms. Here are some news cuttings from the British press:

Bloomberg reports the story and asks where all the money went. “Investigators are still trying to figure out where customers’ money went. Madoff, 70, told his sons last week he had as much as $300 million left, according to an SEC lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The agency is looking for additional money that may be recovered for victims, two people said. In a regulatory filing in January, Madoff’s firm listed $17 billion in assets under management”.

The Guardian.co.uk describes this as the worst fraud in history. “Madoff is himself regulated by the FSA, along with his two sons, his brother Peter and six other registered individuals, though his eponymous London-based offshoot. However, Stephen Raven, chief executive of London-based Madoff Securities International, said the firm was “not in any way part of” the New York company caught up in the alleged scam”.

The Timesonline.co.uk reports reports the list of the victims, a list that keeps increasing: Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Santander, the Spanish group that owns Britain’s Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley…

The best 5 London Squares to feel Christmas

15 days to Christmas! The countdown is running fast, so let’s see today where you can go to feel the real Christmas atmosphere in London:

1. The Bankside Winter Festival (www.visitsouthwark.com) – outside Tate Modern – will open with an atmospheric lantern parade on Friday and it will host a rich calendar of events. Perfect position to take a walk and get into the goodwill atmosphere of the season.

2. The Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com) – in Hyde Park – is the biggest fair in town and offers free-to-enter events. Last year this winter park was a great success with more than 500,000 visitors. This time it has stalls, cafes, rides, a skating rink, a big wheel, helter-skelter and a 200ft toboggan snowslide.

3. The Tower of London Ice Rink (www.toweroflondonicerink.co.uk) is the perfect spot for people who work in the City and for the tourists who want to combine a skate with a visit to the Tower, Tower Bridge or the London Dungeons (just across the river). The ice rink will be open until Sunday 11th January (10am-10pm) – Prices: Adults £10 (£12 peak); Children £7.50 (£8 peak)

4. Trafalgar Square (www.london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare/events/xmas_carols.jsp) from Monday 8th December to Friday 19th December (from 5pm until 9pm) plays host to groups performing Christmas carols in the square, next to the traditional Norwegian Christmas Tree.

5. Carnaby Street (www.carnaby.co.uk) can be better for shopping than Oxford Street at this time of year: less people and more decorations. The street is perfect to start your Christmas shopping!

Today News from the Financial Times

Good afternoon. London Presence is back today, flipping through the pages of the Financial Times- the UK’s best business newspaper.
Founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and his brother, the Financial Times has specialised in reporting business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial outlook.
Printed as a broadsheet on distinctive light salmon-coloured paper, the FT is the only paper in the UK providing full daily reports on the London Stock Exchange and world markets.

Let’s see the 3 main news stories of today:
The main UK headline reads, “Inflation falls for first time in 15 months”. The article reads, “Consumer prices tumbled in October, justifying the Bank of England’s dramatic 1.5 percentage point interest rate cut earlier this month and opening the door for further reductions in the costs of borrowing, according to economists.”
We find another newspaper in more business news of the day;

“The Independent to shed quarter of journalists”. Reading on, “The Independent newspaper and its Sunday sister title will cut up to a quarter of their editorial staff in one of the most savage cuts to hit the UK newspaper industry in recent years as management seeks £10m of savings, the company said on Tuesday.”

From Business Life – “Epicentres of new austerity”. The article begins, “The party is over and the hangover has kicked in. In economies all over the western world, corporate executives and the rising stars of finance are beginning to think that this downturn could be different.”

Are you looking for a job?

You are not the only one. Everyday we see reports on the crisis, the recession and the uncertain times for business and employment. Today BT shed 10,000 jobs as profits slide; British Telecom are of course one of the main service providers of UK broadband, phone lines, mobile products, digital TV, web hosting, online security and networked IT services for the home. These measures are symptomatic of the present economic climate and are unfortunately being implemented on a large scale, as reported daily.

This meltdown is forcing the Government to take more than just a position; they must take action. Mervyn King is determined to kick-start the economy, focussing on inflation he said that he will cut rates again and again. Gordon Brown said last week that he wanted to cut business taxes. The Opposition has said that this would help 350,000 people back into work, as well as reducing the tax burden on business by £2.6 billion and saving as much in unemployment benefits. Could it be a good solution or an unfunded tax cut? To find out more about this topic please follow this link to the article on westbury.co.uk!

Our monday review

Good morning. Let’s start the week with a quick update from the Business World:

1) “London rallies on China’s £375bn stimulus plan,” says the Timesonline.co.uk today. “Shares in London rose by over 130 points in early trading as mining stocks soared on China’s surprise plan to pump four trillion Yuan (£375 billion) into the world’s fastest growing economy.”

2) “Gordon Brown hints at tax cuts,” writes the Guardian.co.uk. “Prime Minister suggests taxes will be reduced to push the UK out of recession. At the weekend the Financial Times reported that ministers were drawing up an emergency package of tax cuts. It said that, according to experts, cuts would have to be worth about £15bn to have much effect.”

3) “Jobless total set to soar to 1.8m,” reveals the Financialtimes.com. “Unemployment is likely to have risen above 1.8m, the highest level since 1998… Economists at the Royal Bank of Scotland and BNP Paribas expect that unemployment will continue to rise sharply next year and could reach 2.7m by the first quarter of 2010.”

4) Reuters.com writes, “Circuit City Stores Inc, the No. 2 U.S. consumer electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, falling victim to tighter credit terms from vendors and a loss of market share to Best Buy Co, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other rivals… Circuit City filed a week after saying it would close 155 stores, or more than one-fifth of its retail base, and eliminate 17 percent of its U.S. workforce. It also said it was considering all options to restructure.”

5) The Christian Science Monitor starts its new life today: from daily-print format to a multi-platform news organisation with a 24/7 daily online publication, a weekly print edition and a daily electronic subscription product. Here we have the future of journalism: this event marks the definitive step to the digital age, as Marketwatch.com explains.

Westfield Shopping Centre – Europe’s largest mall – opens

From time to time we’ll offer some great London tips. So here we are with something that we’re sure you’ll appreciate: the Westfield Centre, Europe’s largest urban shopping mall has opened in West London. Shepherd’s Bush tube station, 43-Acre Mall consisting of 265 shops, featuring popular brands like Gap and Nike to the more classier shops like Prada and Chanel. It will also feature a 14-screen cinema, 50 restaurants, a gym, a spa and a library. The Westfield centre is expected to attract 25 million shoppers every year when it is fully completed however only 85 per cent of the stores are opening today as some are still not yet complete. In light of the current economic downturn, one of the store managers has said, “you wouldn’t choose this time, but we’ve been operating for 50 years and from time to time you open in a boom and from time to time you open in a recession. And we are planning for the long term.”

The centre was officially opened this morning by members on the board of the Westfield Group, the Australian company behind the mall alongside the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.If you want to know more about the Westfield centre, here it’s the link!

How to calculate your own inflation

Prices are increasing rapidly as inflation grows but how will it damage you and your wallet?

BBCNews.co.uk is trying to help you find the answer. By filling in this form created by the Office for National Statistics, you will be able to calculate your personal inflation rate. The more accurate you are with filling out your dates, the more accurate the result will clearly illustrate how inflation affects you.

Take our advice and fill in the form now. This way you can better understand your personal financial position and be prepared for the future.

A woeful winter…

Hello and welcome back. The ups & downs of the markets of last week have had several more consequences, all adding to the long list of repercussions of the ongoing crisis.
Only one month ago one of the biggest banks of Canary Wharf closed and now The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development announced that unemployment is increasing everyday – no sector excluded. Official figures show a 164,000 quarterly rise in unemployment.
It will be a woeful winter for the markets, for employers and for the employees and moreover for those looking for a new job. Please see our parent accountancy website Westbury for the full report.

Stock markets around the world slump further

The panic is spreading worldwide: the slump of every stock market can take the global economy into a deep recession. After Wall Street fell to a five-year low last night with the Dow Jones closing at 7.3% down, the day started very badly in Asia, where Singapore slid into recession, and quickly spread to Europe. In London, the FTSE 100 plunged more than 10% in the first 30 mins of trading.
What will happen in Wall Street today? And in Europe?

What does ‘recession’ mean? And what does it mean for your business and for your livelihood?

Here is a quick press review for you:

BBC News : Fear grips global stock markets

Reuters : Global rout, bank woes roil Wall Street

Guardian : Markets crash: How panic spread around the globe

Timesonline.co.uk : Wall St shares plummet, following London and Asia, as G7 gathers

Bloomberg : Most U.S. Stocks Decline on Credit Crisis; Regional Banks Gain