Business rates to more than double in ‘final blow’ to UK retailers January 21, 2025 Business rates are set to rise more than 140 per cent for thousands of high street businesses across the UK in yet another cost pressure for brick-and-mortar businesses. Business rates, which are levied on all commercial properties, were cut by 75 per cent in 2022 as high street stores found themselves unable to cope during [...]
UK economy: Compulsory liquidations hit 10-year high January 21, 2025 Figures released from the Insolvency Service showed that there were 3,320 compulsory liquidations in 2024, the highest number for 10 years.
UK economy: Has the Budget broken the jobs market? January 21, 2025 Unemployment rose to 4.4 per cent in the three months to November, up from 4.3 per cent previously and the highest since last May.
Reeves wades in to motor finance scandal in bid to soften £30bn payout January 21, 2025 Shares in some of Britain’s biggest motor finance lenders have surged today after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed plans to intervene in a mis-selling scandal which could cost the industry billions of pounds. A court judgement handed down in October sent shockwaves through the motor finance sector and has opened the door to what analysts [...]
Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio: UK economy at risk of ‘debt death spiral’ January 21, 2025 Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Capital, warned that the UK economy was at risk of a “debt death spiral” following the recent bout of bond market instability. In an interview with the Financial Times, Dalio warned that the government faced the prospect of having to borrow more and more from financial markets in [...]
UK economy: Headache for Bank of England as wage growth accelerates January 21, 2025 Wage growth picked up towards the end of last year, new figures show, revealing the continued persistence of price pressures in the UK economy. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), annual regular pay growth averaged 5.6 per cent in the three months to November, up from 5.2 per cent previously. [...]
Going for growth is a game of risk that ministers must embrace January 21, 2025 In the words of the Lord Mayor of London, “the only way you get growth is via risk.” Alastair King made this observation early in November last year, before it was fashionable. These days, it seems everyone’s discovering their appetite for risk. The notion that professional regulators could magic up some pro-growth policies has attracted [...]
UK economy: Does Labour’s economic hotchpotchism matter? January 21, 2025 Although gilt jitters have eased, the embattled Chancellor now faces a new and far more serious criticism.
Skills gap has ‘passed its peak’ but experts warn of a ‘hiring recession’ January 21, 2025 This was the first time since 2014 that the number of firms suffering from a scarcity of well-qualified candidates declined.
UK ranked second-best investment target by global CEOs January 20, 2025 The UK has been ranked as the second most attractive country to invest in by global CEOs, behind only the US, as British CEOs feel confident about growth in the country’s economy. This is the first time that the UK has been ranked second in the 28-year history of PwC’s CEO Survey. “Our CEO survey [...]