Seven-year decline in lending to businesses set to end this year, says EY Item Club August 2, 2015 Business lending will grow for the first time since 2008, a group of economic forecasters said today. Banks lent £103.4bn to UK businesses in the first half of 2015 compared with £88.6bn in the first half of 2014. This trend is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year, according to the EY Item [...]
Small businesses growing amid underwhelming export figures August 2, 2015 Small-and medium-sized manufacturers saw growth in the three months to July, despite a dramatic fall in export prices, according to a new survey out today. According to the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) SME trends survey, companies reported steady growth in domestic orders, a rise in output in line with expectations and a slight [...]
Number of complaints about energy services to Ombudsman spike August 2, 2015 Complaints over poor energy services are on the rise, with mediator Ombudsman Services reporting a 55 per cent rise in dissatisfied customers this year. Over 35,000 complaints have been lodged to the mediator since January – up sharply from the same period in 2014. Despite the annual rise in complaints, the organisation said [...]
Greek shares anticipated to plunge as much as 20 per cent when stock exchange reopens August 2, 2015 The Athens Stock Exchange is anticipated to tumble by as much as 20 per cent as traders expect a tumultuous day of trading when the Greek stock market reopens tomorrow after a five-week closure. “The possibility of seeing even a single share rise in tomorrow’s session is almost zero,” said Takis Zamanis, chief trader at [...]
The government’s RBS share sell-off is about to begin: Here’s what you need to know August 2, 2015 This week, George Osborne is due to kick start the government's sale of its 78 per cent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Read more: Mansion House Speech 2015: Chancellor George Osborne will start government RBS sell-off as soon as possible The chancellor's plan to offload the shares was announced during his Mansion [...]
Greek markets to reopen on Monday July 31, 2015 After a five-week shutdown, the Greek stock market will reopen on Monday, it has been reported. CNBC said Costas Botopoulos, the head of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, confirmed the Athens Stock Exchange will open on Monday. The exchange has been closed since 29 June, when the government imposed strict capital controls limiting people to [...]
Eurozone inflation holds steady at 0.2 per cent in July July 31, 2015 The Eurozone's annual inflation rate held steady at 0.2 per cent in the year to July, unchanged from the previous month, a flash estimate by Eurostat showed today. Nevertheless inflation remains well below the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of just under two per cent, meaning there's still plenty of work for the ECB's €60bn a [...]
Russian central bank cuts interest rate, pushing down rouble July 31, 2015 The Russian central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate again, this time by half a percentage point, to 11 per cent. It's the second time in as many months it's cut its interest rate – and that's after it slashed it by two percentage points in January, one percentage point in March and 1.5 [...]
Where are London salaries growing fastest? Kensington and Chelsea and Tower Hamlets have biggest wage growth July 31, 2015 It pays to be a Londoner. Wages are still highest in the capital, and growing at a higher pace than the rest of the country – but where are they growing fastest? The growth is far from evenly split, even within London. Some areas of the capital have experienced a truly booming growth in earnings, [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]