Business energy support set to be halved to reduce taxpayer bill December 30, 2022 Support for businesses to help them cope with swelling energy bills will halve in the spring to avoid taxpayers holding the bag if oil and gas prices surge again, according to The Times. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt next month will announce a 12-month extension to a scheme that caps energy costs for businesses, similar to a [...]
Inflation surge reshapes Brits’ spending, but so does end of Covid-19 curbs December 30, 2022 Inflation reaching a 41-year high. Interest rates back to 2008 levels. Mortgage costs up substantially. It’s been a tough year for the Great British consumer. Income growth has failed to keep pace with what was a 11.1 per cent cost of living peak, meaning households have been forced to cut back to protect their finances. [...]
UK consumers can expect a tsunami of offers and discounts in 2023, predicts retail heavyweight December 30, 2022 Consumers in the UK and across many other markets can expect a tsunami of offers, discounts and other price cuts in 2023 as retail’s focus is rapidly shifting to improving demand, according to an industry insider. As many retailers over-ordered in recent years, while there was a supply shortage, companies are now keen to get [...]
One in five mergers canned as volatility spooks dealmakers December 29, 2022 Nearly 20 per cent of all mergers and acquisitions were canned this year as dealmakers took fright at the extreme turbulence shaking global markets, new data has revealed. One in five deals were abandoned in 2022 while some 26 per cent were put on ice as private equity firms and corporate dealmakers opted to sit [...]
‘Works for me’: Musk dismisses Twitter troubles after thousands report issues December 29, 2022 Elon Musk looked to dismiss reports of Twitter malfunctioning today after thousands of users across the UK, US and Japan were hit by outages. Up to 15,000 users were hit by issues on the Twitter app, with some 2,500 UK-based users facing problems, Reuters reported. London-based internet monitor NetBlocks said Twitter was experiencing “international outages [...]
Sacked: Football clubs change chiefs at four times the rate of top UK firms December 29, 2022 Football clubs have proved they are a more ruthless group than Britain’s biggest firms this year as top clubs sacked their bosses at four times the rate of FTSE-100 firms.
Goldman Sachs poised to slash headcount next month December 29, 2022 The chief of Goldman Sachs has warned staff he will slash the bank’s headcount by around eight per cent next month in a bid to bolster profits in the face of recession next year.
Mining and retail stocks push FTSE 100 into the green after Christmas shopping boost December 29, 2022 The FTSE 100 has been given a boost by its top retail stocks as investors cashed in on the post-Christmas sales shopping, and as China is set to ease its Covid restrictions for inbound travellers from January 8. Among the top performers on London’s leading index on Wednesday were JD Sports Fashion, Next, Kingfisher and [...]
EXCL – Majestic Wine’s CEO John Colley on why 2022 will go down as the year of fizz December 29, 2022 Two years ago Majestic Wine went private, under the ownership of Fortress Investment. As a private entity, the company has enjoyed two years of transformation and the results have not gone unnoticed in the City: record growth and record sales. The Watford-based wine giant also opened a number of new branches and undertook a turn-around plan whilst [...]
EXCL – Why Private Equity’s appetite for aggressive takeovers will only increase in 2023 December 29, 2022 It’s no surprise that economic turmoil often drives consolidation. Companies may be struggling to survive and looking to M&A as a way to drive value. Not to mention the current weak pound that makes UK-based businesses, especially those with a global footprint, more attractive to overseas buyers. City experts don’t expect that to change in [...]