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OPINION

Seven Days

Seven Days
September 18, 2014
Seven Days

Hot housing?

London record

House prices have continued to drift higher according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics which counters suggestions from the likes of Halifax that house price inflation might finally be running out of steam. In its latest round of data, the ONS said house prices had risen by 11.7 per cent in the 12 months to July, well ahead of both the Halifax and Nationwide’s measures of growth for the same month. The average house price in London at the end of July was £512,000, the first time it has broken through the half a million barrier.

Scotland the brave?

Result out

By the time this magazine hits doormats on Friday 19 September the result of the Scottish independence vote should be known and the weeks of increasingly feverish campaigning will be over. Whether there is a Yes vote or a rejection of independence the relationship between Westminster and Scotland is likely to change immeasurably with either a formal split coming by March 2016 or a more informal ‘devo-max’ option being pursued within the confines of the union, as laid out by the increasingly desperate No campaign in the closing days before the vote.

Inflation eases

But wages lag

The rate of inflation in the UK has fallen once again, easing the pressure further on the Bank of England in terms of putting up interest rates. The Consumer Price Index measure of inflation fell from 1.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent in July with the Retail Price Index falling by the same margin to 2.4 per cent. The main contributors to the continued fall were the ongoing decline in food price inflation and the weakening oil price, which has translated to lower petrol prices at the pump. But inflation is still outrunning wage growth, which was 0.5 per cent from May to July.

See page 11

Minecraft moolah

$2.5bn deal

In the latest mega-bucks crossover between hardware and software Microsoft has announced a $2.5bn deal to buy Mojang, the Swedish games developer responsible for the Minecraft simulation game. The company, which claims 100m downloads on personal computers alone since 2009 and 2 billion hours of usage on the Microsoft xbox console in the past two years, made revenues of $326m last year and will now become part of the Microsoft Studios business. Meanwhile, the three Swedish founders of Mojang are all leaving the business.

Phones4U collapses

Networks blamed

UK high street mobile phone retailer Phones4U collapsed last weekend amid a welter of recriminations against the mobile networks. The business announced on Sunday that it would not be opening its doors on Monday, leaving the futures of its 5,600 employees looking pretty dim. The company said it was forced into closure after losing the last of its contracts with networks when EE followed the lead of the likes of Vodafone and O2 and said it would not be renewing its contract when it runs out next year. The various networks, and rival Dixons Carphone are in talks with administrators over different parts of the stricken business.

Sony slump

Losses mount

Japanese technology giant Sony is lurching from one profit warning to another. The latest warning, the sixth since chief executive Kazuo Hirai took over the hot seat two years ago, is linked to massive write downs on its mobile phone unit. A rationalisation process to reduce models and concentrate on high end Xperia smart phones in a bid to challenge Samsung, and Apple has yet to gain significant traction and the company is now preparing to take a 180bn yen (£1bn) impairment charge in the division due to ‘significant change in the market’. This means full year losses are likely to balloon to 230bn yen, against previous expectations of a 50bn yen loss.