Business
Yes, Wonga lent at shocking rates – but it was customers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Santander’s secret: to conquer the world, stay like a small-town bank
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
Rona Fairhead will be good for the BBC – but who was so keen to nobble her rival?
Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…
It’s not just left-wingers who think the bosses’ pay boom is unhealthy
The FTSE100 index stands precisely where it did in the first week of December 1999. Whichever way you look at…
The man who could sell the British public on fracking
Iain Conn, who will succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica, would have been a dead cert for the…
I know how ineffective sanctions are – but these ones just might work
‘Sanctions,’ said Kofi Annan, ‘are a necessary middle ground between war and words.’ Neither the EU nor the US will…
Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
It's time for Britain to abolish slavery – again
Who would have expected to find slavery on the outskirts of Cardiff? Not the locals, who were shocked when police…
How the internet can – and should – destroy estate agents
The internet can – and should – bring it about
Are we killing investment banking? And if we are, should we care?
Do we really mean to kill investment banking, or are we trampling it by accident in a fit of righteous…
Pfizer’s already beaten Ed Miliband. Now it just needs to offer the right price
Pfizer will almost certainly have to offer more than its second bid of £50 a share for rival drug giant…
When I pick the right share, I shout about it. And here’s what I do when I get it wrong...
When I get it right, I shout about it. And when I get it wrong? Well, just between us…
Any other business: Turn down those token directorships, girls, and tell them you want to be chairman
Last Saturday was International Women’s Day, but we celebrated early in Helmsley when my Yorkshire home town was featured in…
Where I’m looking for the next great banking blow-up
A reader likens me to Dr Pangloss, the quack philosopher in Voltaire’s Candide who insisted that ‘all is for the…
Any other business: The £1 bet that built a 1,000-strong company
At a charity lunch in Manchester, I meet a cheerful ‘engagement manager’ from AO.com, formerly Appliances Online, a fast-growing internet…
Richard Branson deserves (some) respect
Tom Bower’s first biography of Sir Richard Branson, in 2000, was memorable for its hilarious account of the Virgin tycoon’s…
Any other business: How François Hollande let France miss the global recovery train
I’ve always respected stationmasters, but that sentiment is not universally shared. A distinguished friend of mine across the Channel described…
Any other business: Oh dear... perhaps Standard Chartered isn't as dull as it looks
The cautionary tale of the Co-operative Bank, its black hole and its naughty chairman has recently taught us that if…
Martin Vander Weyer: Why I’d rather run M&S than Tesco
This first working week of January is apparently the time when we’re most likely to think about a change of…
Martin Vander Weyer: Bad news for pawnbrokers. Is that good news for the rest of us?
While attention has focused on the sudden ubiquity and alleged iniquity of payday lenders, boom and impending bust has infected…
This isn’t a property bubble – it’s a reason to improve London’s transport
Everyone —including me, if I’m honest — has been talking about a new property bubble. But is it for real?…
Bet on Royal Mail, not Twitter
Royal Mail delivers to 29 million UK addresses; last year it generated £9 billion of revenues, of which £324 million…
What Vodafone should do with its huge windfall: invest it in the next Vodafone
Vodafone, which has just collected an £84 billion windfall from the sale of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon…
Barometer: Spain’s own version of Gibraltar
Other people’s rocks Spain threatened to introduce a €40 border-crossing charge and find other ways of making life difficult for…
Whisper it, but the big banks are finally getting their houses in order
By and large it was a good week for the big banks — underpinned by encouraging news from the wider…
