Alcopops out, frozen berries in: How Brits’ shopping habits are changing the inflation basket March 13, 2023 Brits are swapping alcopops for frozen fruit as the nation looks to favour more healthy and environmental options in 2023, statistics from the ONS’ inflation basket can reveal. The tool which measures consumer spending patterns has also shown that non-chart CDs, and digital compact cameras have disappeared from UK shopping lists in the past year, [...]
Silicon Valley Bank: ‘Resuming normal operations’ after HSBC rescue swoop – Live March 13, 2023 HSBC’s move to snap up the stricken UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank has been hailed a “relief” for the UK’s tech firms today after nerves spread of contagion across sector over the weekend.
Budget: 350,000 small firms at risk of ‘shrinking, restructure or closure’ unless energy bill help extended – FSB March 13, 2023 Companies on fixed-term energy contracts are at risk of being exposed to ultra-high prices, warned a leading industry group.
Uber trialing free childcare in bid to coax parents to become drivers March 13, 2023 Uber is trialling free childcare for drivers as part of efforts to encourage more parents of young children to sign up to the minicab app platform. The company announced it is offering 10 hours of free childcare for 1,000 of its UK drivers. Uber said its drivers on average earn £34 an hour in London [...]
Direct Line shares crash as winter cold snap and inflation leave its results ‘as ugly as they can be’ March 13, 2023 Direct Line today posted a £45m loss for the year 2022 as the insurer suffered a hit from soaring inflation, extreme weather, and market volatility, in what analysts described as one of the “worst years” in the Bromley firm’s history. Shares in Direct Line fell by 5.79 per cent on the news, as the insurer [...]
HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1 in last-minute rescue for tech firms March 13, 2023 HSBC has announced this morning it is buying the stricken UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank, providing a lifeline for tech firms who had feared losing access to their deposits. The global giant emerged as a ‘white knight’ late last evening – against competition from the Bank of London and an Abu Dhabi investment fund [...]
Government must rival US $370bn IRA or risk gutting UK electric car industry March 13, 2023 The government needs to ramp up spending on Britain’s electric vehicle (EV) industry or risk being left behind by the US and its peers who are injecting hundreds of billions of pounds into their auto industries. That’s according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the representative body of the automotive sector, who [...]
Silicon Valley Bank UK: What we know (and don’t know) on Monday morning March 13, 2023 Silicon Valley Bank UK was put into insolvency last night – with expectations that government would step in before Monday’s market open now looking more unlikely. The bank’s accounts are effectively frozen, meaning that firms will be unable to access their deposits – possibly leaving them unable to pay bills or salaries. SVB UK’s parent [...]
Octopus pledges €1bn to boost France’s green energy market with one million customer target March 13, 2023 Octopus has announced plans to further expand its investment strategy in France with a billion euro spending pledge.
Silicon Valley Bank UK: What we know (and what we don’t) on Sunday evening March 12, 2023 The Bank of England is set to put Silicon Valley Bank UK into insolvency as soon as this evening – with tech champions warning that the bank’s collapse could be an extinction-level event for a host of UK firms. This story has been updated as of Monday morning The bank’s accounts are effectively frozen, meaning [...]