27-fold jump in number of foreign visitors flocking to Britain post-pandemic Tourism is surging Scrapping coronavirus travel rules led to a 27-fold year-on-year increase in the number of overseas residents visiting the UK, new figures suggest. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 2.1 million inbound visits were made in April, up from 81,000 during the same month last year. Spending by overseas residents in April hit £1.7 billion, [...]
London IPOs in decline since Brexit vote as British companies flock to New York UK IPOs Brexit London’s IPO market share has dropped since the Brexit vote as British companies seek to list in New York. Listings in the UK are at their lowest in over 10 years despite the government relaxing some rules to attract IPOs and make London a post-Brexit listings favourite. IPO activity in the country dropped to about [...]
UK leads Europe in mortgage market might but sits at bottom for share of population that owns home Mortgages & money While the UK may trail other European nations when it comes to the total proportion of the population that own their own home, it does lead the way when it comes to the might of the mortgage sector and the number of properties purchased by borrowing. At 65.1 per cent, the UK sits well within [...]
Barclays makes major lending push with £2.3bn deal for Kensington Mortgage Company June 24, 2022 In a major push to broaden its lending offering, banking giant Barclays said this morning it has agreed a deal worth around £2.3bn to buy specialist lender Kensington Mortgage Company. Barclays said the acquisition will allow it to offer more mortgage options to the self-employed and people who have multiple or variable incomes. The bank [...]
Construction giants colluded to rig £150m of contracts including Selfridges and Oxford University, CMA rules June 24, 2022 A consortium of about 10 construction firms illegally colluded to rig bids for £150m of major contracts, according to provisional findings by the UK competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said eight of the firms involved in the cartels have admitted to taking part. The rigged contracts for demolition services included work for [...]
Cocktail of problems plunge UK consumer confidence to record low June 24, 2022 A relentless cost of living crunch, the prospect of a recession and stagnant wage growth has driven British pessimism to new highs, reveals a closely watched survey published today. UK consumer confidence dropped to minus 41 points this month, down marginally from minus 40 in May, the lowest reading recorded by research firm GfK since [...]
Second day of rail strikes send Trainline tumbling as FTSE 100 dips June 23, 2022 A second day of railway worker strikes sent shares in ticket booking platform Trainline tumbling as London’s top indexes dipped today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 0.97 per cent to 7,020.45 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 1.05 per [...]
Britons lose £5k a year during lost decade of productivity growth June 23, 2022 Workers have lost an average of £5,000 every year over the last decade due to the UK’s meagre productivity growth, reveals a new report published today. Britain’s productivity growth has lagged the rest of the G7 “throughout much of the post-war period, which seems to indicate a deep structural problem,” according to the National Institute [...]
Rampant inflation swells UK debt interest bill and pushes up government borrowing June 23, 2022 Inflation is swelling the UK’s interest bill and forcing the government to borrow more money to pay investors, official figures released today revealed. The amount of money the government paid to holders of UK debt jumped just over 70 per cent over the last year, reaching £7.6bn in May, up from £4.5bn last year, according [...]
London tops global finance hiring league in sign City retains attractiveness after Brexit June 23, 2022 The City’s jobs market has raced ahead of its competitors to top the global hiring league, reveals fresh research published today. London’s banks, brokers, insurers and money managers are looking to more than double their staffing levels, according to a report by recruiter Robert Walters. The hiring drive has been spurred by firms scrambling to [...]