Brexit and IR35 rules weighed on recruitment last year, says report January 28, 2020 UK financial services firms were reluctant to take on new employees last year as the fog of Brexit hung over the sector and new tax rules limited temporary roles, a report by recruitment firm Morgan McKinley has found. Yet despite the political turbulence, the tax, public practice, risk, investment management, and legal professions remained largely [...]
UK retail sales flatline again after bruising Christmas January 28, 2020 UK retail sales flatlined for the third month in a row in January, survey data showed today, as Britain’s high street braces itself for “another tough year for the sector”. The CBI’s distributive trends survey said sales were also expected to be flat next month, marking a disappointing start to the year for the UK’s [...]
From climate change to the Iran crisis, we need to bring back the experts January 28, 2020 The EU Referendum set in motion a debate the nation had rarely seen before. Among the first casualties of the divisive and brutal campaign were the “experts”. As Michael Gove famously said, the country had had enough of experts getting it wrong. The public rejected advice from academics, business leaders and prominent politicians, and voted [...]
German business morale takes surprise hit in new year January 27, 2020 Morale among German businesses dropped unexpectedly in January, a survey has shown, weighing on hopes that Europe’s biggest economy would have a strong start to the year. The business climate index from the Ifo Institute think tank fell to 95.9 in January from 96.3 in December, falling well short of expectations that it would rise [...]
UK mortgage approvals surge in December January 27, 2020 British banks approved the most mortgages in four years in December, data from banking body UK Finance has shown, in the latest sign of green shoots in the UK economy. Yet mortgage lending in the UK fell in 2019 overall as the Britain’s housing market struggled under the weight of Brexit uncertainty, according to the [...]
UK consumer confidence lifts at end of 2019 January 27, 2020 UK consumer confidence rose at the end of last year, signalling a more optimistic start to the new year. Consumer confidence in the fourth quarter rose 0.5 per cent to minus 8.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter and 2018. Sentiment on the overall state of the economy jumped 27 percentage points on the [...]
Australian Dollar to GBP – Could this be one to watch? January 24, 2020 | City Talk Singapore Dollar Fears of the coronavirus which has been spreading from China have affected global market sentiment. This week in Singapore December consumer price inflation results beat expectations; with food, transport, communication, and education costs the highlights. Beating November’s 0.6 per cent and the prediction of 0.7 per cent, December’s 0.8 per cent result is in line with the Monetary Authority of Singapore [...]
This week: Why the Pound shone over the Euro January 24, 2020 | City Talk After a poor end to last week, the pound responded with a dominant performance this week, gaining an average of 0.8 per cent against the other major currencies. Indeed, it was only the Japanese yen that it lost out to (dropping 0.2 per cent). Such a performance has helped the pound climb to the top [...]
UK PMI: Economy climbs to 16-month high, leaving rate cut less likely January 24, 2020 The UK economy has returned to growth in January, according to a flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading, hitting a 16-month high as the Bank of England weighs up whether or not to cut UK interest rates. The flash IHS Markit / CIPS composite PMI reading for the UK hit 52.4 in January, up from [...]
FCA appoints interim chief executive to replace Andrew Bailey January 24, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that Christopher Woolard will take over as interim chief executive of the regulator after current boss Andrew Bailey leaves to become governor of the Bank of England (BoE). Woolard, who is currently the FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition, will take over after Bailey’s departure in March, [...]