UK cuts £43.3bn from bond issuance plans for 2021/22 April 23, 2021 The UK has tabled plans today to issue £252.6bn of government bonds in the 2021/22 financial year, £43.3bn short of what it forecast in March. The reduction comes following data revealing a fall in government borrowing for the previous 2020/21 year, dipping below previous official forecasts. The Debt Management Office has continued to raise net [...]
UK will stay financial services leader without EU equivalence deal, says KPMG boss April 23, 2021 If the UK and EU fail to agree an equivalence deal it will not be the end of the world, according to KPMG’s head of FS Karim Haji, who was feeling upbeat about the future of financial services in the UK. Haji, who was made KPMG’s head of FS in June 2019, acknowledged an equivalence [...]
Public sector borrowing surges to record high April 23, 2021 Public sector borrowing surged to a record high in the past year after a huge rise in spending and tax cuts amid the pandemic. The UK Government borrowed £303.1bn in the last year, an increase of £246bn on the previous year, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). As a ratio of [...]
UK retail sales surge higher in March ahead of lockdown easing April 23, 2021 Retail sales continued to recover in March with a monthly increase of 5.4 per cent as the nearing of Covid restrictions loosening boosted consumer spending. This exceeded a prediction from economics of a monthly increase of 1.5 per cent, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. Sales were 1.6 per cent higher [...]
Law firms are at risk of falling behind in the race for innovation April 23, 2021 “Move fast and break things” is one of the better known corporate mantras. The company which coined it – Facebook – has achieved incredible growth in living by it. It is not the only way for businesses and industries to grow. The legal services industry, worth $650bn globally, continues to grow at 4 to 6 [...]
Mike Lynch: Cass Business School’s new name is fitting tribute to information forefather Thomas Bayes April 23, 2021 It was encouraging to read the news Cass Business School has been renamed after the statistician Reverend Thomas Bayes who, unbeknownst to many of us, plays an important part in all our lives – including my own. Bayes deserves far more historical credit for the place he occupies among the forefathers of information theory. If [...]
Consumer confidence stalls amid fears of new variants and the cost of coronavirus April 23, 2021 Consumer confidence stalled in April, as consumers took a more guarded view of the future amid new Covid variants emerging. The closely-watched consumer confidence index from researcher GfK jumped just one point in April to minus 15, a significantly more subdued movement than March’s seven-point leap. Coronavirus restrictions are slowly easing in the UK, with [...]
Government leaking Covid economic policy erodes public trust, think tank warns April 23, 2021 Treasury’s leaking of Covid-19 recovery policies to some media outlets weeks in advance, while keeping tight lipped on important details, risks eroding public trust, a leading economic think tank has warned. A new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the current method has led to serious fiscal failures and [...]
London market recovery continues following grim start to the week April 22, 2021 London’s main market continued to rise on Thursday, after rebounding yesterday following a disastrous Tuesday, in which the market fell two per cent in one day. By mid-afternoon the FTSE 100 was up 0.42 per cent, boosted by mining and industrials stocks, although the gains were capped by a stronger pound. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE [...]
Foxtons to review chief’s pay following shareholder revolt April 22, 2021 Foxtons will review its remuneration policy after nearly 40 per cent of shareholders voted against executive pay packages. Foxtons faced criticism from investors and shareholders groups over its decision to award CEO Nic Budden almost £1m in bonuses for the year. Shareholders’ concern centred on the group paying out bonuses to executives despite a sharp [...]
