UK CPI: Inflation rate falls back in February as discounted clothes offset rising petrol prices March 24, 2021 The UK’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) slipped in February compared to the previous month as rising petrol costs failed to offset discount clothing and footwear. UK CPI rose 0.4 per cent in the 12 months to February, down from a 0.7 per cent rise in January. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.1 per [...]
Car dealer Pendragon speeds into profit as cost cuts cushion pandemic blow March 24, 2021 British car dealer Pendragon has recovered from a pre-tax loss of £31m in the first half of 2020 to finish the year with an underlying profit of £8.2m. Pendragon said cost cuts helped it report a profit for 2020, compared to a £16.4m loss a year earlier. The firm attributed its recovery to online sales, [...]
Elon Musk allows customers to buy Tesla cars with Bitcoin March 24, 2021 Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has allowed Tesla customers to pay with Bitcoin, should they want to. Early this morning Musk, who literally changed his job little to ‘Technoking’ of Tesla last week, tweeted: “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitoin”, and “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat [...]
E.ON proposes higher dividend as British business eyes £100m profit March 24, 2021 E.ON’s British retail businesses, which includes the Npower brand, is recovering faster than planned, and as a result the company has proposed a higher dividend. E.ON’s UK retail unit is likely to deliver more than £100m in profit this year, one year ahead of schedule. The German company, which became Europe’s largest operator of energy [...]
Covid vaccinations: ‘Greed’ to thank for UK’s rapid jab rollout, PM says March 24, 2021 The Prime Minister reportedly told backbench MPs that the UK’s Covid vaccination success was due to “capitalism” and “greed”. Boris Johnson “very insistently” retracted the statement shortly after making them during a private Zoom call with Conservative MPs. The BBC reported that the remarks were not related to the ongoing clash with the European Union [...]
Europe’s sluggish vaccine rollout has been characterised by complacency and lack of innovation March 24, 2021 This week, the European Union will hold a crunch summit on whether to impose a vaccine export ban. Whatever the rights or wrongs of such a proposal, it is symptomatic of a rollout that has gone wrong from the very start. It is no exaggeration to say that the EU’s approach to the vaccine programme [...]
Banking giants pour $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels since Paris agreement March 24, 2021 Since 2016, the world’s 60 largest banks have poured more than $3.8 trillion into the fossil fuel industry, a new report released today has shown. Despite the signing of the Paris climate accords in 2015, lenders have continued to provide hundreds of billions in financing for polluting industries such as tar sands oil, coal, and [...]
Social factors must be at the heart of pension schemes’ ESG strategy March 24, 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance – or ESG – is the boardroom buzzword of our time. But it must become more than a buzzword, and we must go beyond short-term financial returns in our investment thinking. We need to adopt investment strategies which deliver long-term value, by considering the risks and opportunities relating to supply chains [...]
House of Lords committee calls for UK-EU financial services agreement March 24, 2021 A House of Lords committee has called for the UK to negotiate better EU access for the financial services industry post-Brexit. The Lords’ EU Services Sub-Committee said today that there will be “real problems” for financial services professionals “whose qualifications are not recognised in the EU under current arrangements”. The City lost its pre-Brexit access [...]
Luxury watchmaker Bremont pumps £25m in new London hub March 23, 2021 Luxury watch manufacturer Bremont is expected to boost the market in the UK with a watchmaking hub in London. The £25m investment is expected to bolster the company’s headcount by 20 per cent, reaching 180 employees within two to three years, in a bid to focus its supply chain in the UK. “For over 60 [...]
