Countrywide shares tumble as it confirms heavy losses amid housing market slowdown March 7, 2019 Shares in estate agency Countrywide dropped more than eleven per cent today after it confirmed a widening of its full-year losses and warned of a tough year ahead. The figures Full-year revenue fell seven per cent to £627.1m, driven by a pipeline deficit in sales. The firm’s losses widened from £207.3m to £218.2m. Adjusted earnings before [...]
UK told to come up with ‘acceptable’ backstop solutions as Brexit deadline looms March 7, 2019 The government is under pressure from the EU to urgently find solutions to break the Brexit impasse by tomorrow. EU leaders have asked the UK to submit "acceptable" proposals by Friday to break the deadlock over the Irish backstop, which remains the main obstacle to the two sides coming to mutual agreement. Read more: Bank [...]
Consumer watchdog urges holidaymakers to renew passports by tomorrow to avoid no-deal travel shock March 7, 2019 Millions of British holidaymakers have just two days to renew their passports if they want to travel to hotspots such as Spain and Italy after Brexit, a consumer watchdog has warned. Which is warning that 3.5m passports holders with up to 15 months validity could be prevented from travelling to the continent if the UK [...]
M&A could be the cure for the UK’s threatened pharmaceutical industry March 7, 2019 Six in 10 UK hospital pharmacists report medicine shortages daily – twice the rate as the whole of the European Union. And this is before the fast-approaching EU withdrawal agreement puts additional pressure on the medicine supply chain. According to Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry: “every month, 45m [...]
UK house prices: Experts cast doubt on ‘volatile’ Halifax price hike figures March 7, 2019 House prices rose almost three per cent at the start of 2019 compared to the same period last year, new figures revealed today. Annual house price growth hit 2.8 per cent in the three months to February compared to the corresponding time in 2018, Halifax’s house price index said today – much higher than the [...]
Nicky Morgan urges Treasury to provide no-deal tariff plans ahead of May’s Brexit vote March 6, 2019 Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan has urged the Treasury to clarify its position on tariff policy in the event of a no-deal Brexit following reports that up to 90 per cent could be slashed. Morgan, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee, wrote to Philip Hammond today to demand he state whether the lowering of tariffs was current [...]
Brexit-backing Tories are running out of road March 6, 2019 Next week, MPs will be asked to vote (again) on the government's proposed Brexit deal. While Theresa May's team attempts to woo Labour MPs with offers of cash for poor areas and commitments on workers' rights, the attorney general and Brexit secretary have been in Brussels, frantically trying to win concessions on the thorny Irish [...]
How to use an Isa to invest in peer-to-peer loans March 6, 2019 Since peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms began to enter the market in 2005, savers have used the services to hand out more than £10bn to borrowers. Aside from providing a significant boost to the UK economy, P2P offers attractive interest rates to lenders by cutting the banking sector from the borrowing process. The Innovative Finance Isa [...]
Theresa May makes employee rights pledge to charm Labour MPs into backing Brexit deal March 6, 2019 Theresa May has pledged that the standards of workers’ rights from EU laws retained in UK law will not be reduced after Brexit. As part of the EU withdrawal agreement, parliament will be given the right to consider any future changes in EU law that strengthen workers’ rights or workplace health and safety standards. It [...]
OECD slashes global growth forecasts and warns of no-deal Brexit recession March 6, 2019 Global growth predictions were slashed today as a major economic body warned that a no-deal Brexit would see Britain return to recession. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cut predictions for the UK’s growth to 0.8 per cent in 2019 and 0.9 per cent in 2020. Read more: EU faces the biggest risks [...]