Cost of living fears outweigh mental health and climate change as biggest concern for parents – poll April 7, 2023 Fears about the cost of living outweigh those of mental health, climate change, social media and bullying for a third of UK parents, a survey suggests. Almost a quarter of parents (24 per cent ) said finances and savings were a key concern for their children’s futures but just 9 per cent said they were [...]
Let’s face it: Profiteering is feeding the inflation beast, not just pay rises April 4, 2023 Inflation is a pernicious beast that is plainly bad for people and businesses. It can ease governments’ debt burdens by (artificially) boosting tax revenues, but that can lead to severe bouts of price rises that, often, lead to societal decay. So it’s easy to see why policymakers in the UK are sweating over the rate [...]
UK narrowly avoids recession as penny pinching Brits help GDP grow 0.1 per cent March 31, 2023 The UK was not formally in a dreaded recession between October and December, with UK GDP increasing slightly by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the economy marginally improved from an initial estimate of “no growth”. [...]
Recession? Five graphs that show where the UK economy is and where it is heading March 31, 2023 Are we in a recession? Aren’t we in a recession? Are we headed into a recession? At this point, who knows. At the start of the year, everyone said “yes definitely, and a bad one”. Now, those projections look a bit overcooked. Essentially, it’s on a knife edge. City A.M. takes a look at the [...]
Food inflation soars to record 15 per cent as sugar price hike leaves retailers warning of more misery to come March 28, 2023 Shop price inflation is yet to reach its “peak” as the rising cost of sugar and high manufacturing costs present a double whammy ahead of crucial Easter trade, a leading retail body has warned. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) shop price index showed annual inflation accelerated to 8.9 per cent in March, up from 8.4 [...]
Andrew Bailey: Our banks are sound – we’ll keep hiking if inflation persists March 27, 2023 The Bank of England will be forced to jack up interest rates again if incoming data shows inflation is not falling fast enough in response to the central bank’s eleven straight rate rises, Governor Andrew Bailey said today. Further pain will be needed to be borne by families and businesses if price pressures keep pinning [...]
Lamborghini, Aston Martin & Dior: Why are the world’s luxury brands recession proof? March 27, 2023 Luxury brands are yet to feel the cold wind of recession, with luxury names including Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bentley and Dior all posting a surge in revenues in 2023. The companies all cite the “resilience” of their wealthy customers in an otherwise tough economic market. Lamborghini is the latest to appear to shrug off soaring [...]
UK recession still on the cards after aggressive Bank of England interest rate hikes March 27, 2023 A recession is still on the cards in the UK despite the economy performing much better than experts predicted just a few months ago, new forecasts out today project. Higher interest rates and households responding to the cost of living crunch gripping their finances by trimming spending is tipped to push GDP 0.3 per cent [...]
UK household debt swells past £2 trillion for first time ever March 27, 2023 Family debt has swelled past £2 trillion for the first time ever in a sign Brits are whipping out their credit cards to fund spending amid the cost of living crunch, new research out today reveals. Household debt is now nearly the same size as the entire UK economy (£2.2 trillion) and has been pushed [...]
UK suffering worst living standards squeeze on record, OBR boss warns March 26, 2023 Brits’ spending power won’t recover to pre-pandemic levels for another half decade, the boss of the UK’s economic watchdog has warned. The UK is experiencing the “biggest squeeze on living standards we’ve faced in this country on record”, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) chairman Richard Hughes said today. His stark warning came after the regulator’s [...]