Finance bosses predict sharpest hiring drop since 2020 after tariff uncertainty April 14, 2025 Finance bosses expect the sharpest decline in corporate hiring since the third quarter of 2020 as geopolitical risks escalate. A fresh report from Deloitte has showed signs of a waning job market with wage growth expect to slow from 3.6 per cent to three per cent. A net 14 per cent of chief financial officers [...]
Reeves unveils £500m support for tariff-affected small businesses April 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a £500m plan to smaller businesses affected by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs. Run by the British Business Bank, the Growth Guarantee Scheme will now provide additional lending capacity for firms that will need support with cashflow issues due to changes in tariffs. Lending up to £2m per business group, [...]
UK growth in February smashes low expectations April 11, 2025 The UK economy grew by 0.5 per cent in February, official data has shown, beating forecasters’ expectations by a wide margin. A Bloomberg poll of economists predicted growth to come in at 0.1 per cent for the month. UK GDP grew 0.6 per cent in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics [...]
Layoffs creating bigger pool of jobseekers, recruiters say April 11, 2025 More people were added to the large pool of jobseekers in March than at any point since the pandemic, according to recruiters, as high levels of redundancies are driving a “steeper rise” in staff availability. Employers have come under greater strain in the months since Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announced a £25bn national insurance tax raid [...]
Bank of England’s postponement of bond sale is a ‘precaution’ April 10, 2025 The Bank of England’s decision to postpone the sale of long-dated bonds to after June following market volatility was a “precaution”, according to deputy governor Sarah Breeden. President Donald Trump’s tariffs sent markets around the world into a state of panic as 30-year gilt yields surged to its highest level since 1998, pushing up borrowing [...]
Cabinet Office to shed 2,100 jobs as government shrinks civil service April 10, 2025 The Cabinet Office will lose almost a third of its staff as Labour seeks to shrink the civil service, the government has announced. Around 1,200 jobs will go through redundancies and leavers not being replaced under plans unveiled to civil servants on Thursday, with another 900 transferred to other departments. The 2,100 job cuts represent [...]
UK-India trade deal reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses told April 10, 2025 The UK’s trade deal with India is reportedly 90 per cent agreed, businesses have been told, according to a report in the Guardian. Firms were informed on a call with trade negotiators this week that some remaining issues included cars, pharmaceutical drugs and the whisky trade, the newspaper reported, with India currently the largest overseas [...]
Nikhil Rathi reappointed FCA chief April 10, 2025 Nikhil Rathi will be chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for another five years, leading it on its new directive from the government to slash unnecessary and duplicated regulation, the Chancellor has confirmed. Rathi—a former Treasury mandarin and chief executive of the London Stock Exchange—will serve another five-year term as the boss of [...]
British Steel: Talks ongoing as hopes of ‘solution in sight’ for Scunthorpe April 9, 2025 Talks are ongoing as government ministers battle for the future of British Steel this week, with hopes of a “commercial solution in sight”. The firm has launched a consultation on the proposed closure of blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant and the government is in talks with the company’s Chinese owner Jingye. There have been [...]
Fresh headache for Rachel Reeves as UK gilt yields spike to 1998 levels April 9, 2025 UK gilts have spiked to 30-year highs after a selloff in US Treasuries sent government bond markets worldwide spiralling. The yield on 30-year gilts spiked to 5.68 per cent this afternoon, before falling back slightly to 5.62 per cent, well above the previous multi-decade high of 5.47 per cent reached in January. The movement has [...]