Exclusive: The challenges and hurdles City finance chiefs will face in 2023 January 4, 2022 Firms across practically every industry in the UK are facing a bleak economic winter ahead, but where is that playing out and what hurdles do the incoming storm clouds bring in 2023? City firms will be turning to one senior figure to understand these issue and look to keep the ship afloat – the Chief [...]
From price inflation and Brexit rows to Evergrande and Biden v Putin: Here are the market risks to watch this year January 4, 2022 The world is a pretty turbulent and unpredictable place at the moment, with Covid variants not making life easier. From tensions between Russia and the US over Ukraine’s NATO membership to Brexit conflicts and China’s Evergrande property scandal, 2022 is set to become everything but dull. So what developments and issues could disrupt or disturb [...]
Consumers should brace themselves for runway energy bills as price rises that overwhelmed suppliers in 2021 start to trickle down January 4, 2022 Consumers should brave themselves for runaway household bills this year as the energy sector continues to struggle with soaring gas prices, which consigned a string of energy suppliers to the graveyard in 2021. Energy suppliers had been paying 54p per therm of gas at the beginning of last year. By September 2021, that had reached [...]
Biggest shake-up of national security in two decades a fact as new rules aimed at making foreign takeovers harder come into force January 4, 2022 Potential foreign buyers face a new regulatory regime as new rules that will make it harder for foreign firms to buy British businesses considered key to national security have come into force. The National Security and Investment Act is said to be the biggest shake-up of the UK’s national security regime for 20 years and [...]
A bloody year for journalism: Dozens of reporters and media workers were killed in 2021 January 4, 2022 A total of 45 reporters and media workers were killed doing their jobs over the past year, with the highest number in strife-torn Afghanistan, the world’s largest organisation of journalists has said. The figure represents one of the lowest death tolls in 30 years, since the International Federation of Journalists began publishing annual reports in [...]
Share trading in Go-Ahead Group halted as Southeastern rail scandal widens with Deloitte scrutinising the books January 4, 2022 Shares in train firm Go-Ahead Group have been suspended to give its auditor more time to finalise delayed full-year results in the wake of the Southeastern franchise scandal. Go-Ahead said it was working with accountancy group Deloitte to get its earnings for the year to July 3 2021 published “as soon as possible”, with the [...]
Strict new Brexit transport rules make UK businesses ‘give up’ on EU imports: ‘Simply not worth the hassle’ January 4, 2022 Many British businesses may “give up importing” as a result of new strict rules that came into force on Saturday, on 1 January, a former senior civil servant in charge of Brexit planning has warned. Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between 2017 and 2019, said [...]
Boost white blood cells in immune system as they are able to fight off Omicron variant, Covid scientists find January 4, 2022 The immune system’s white blood cells are able to mount an immune response against the Omicron variant of Covid-19, according to a new study. Due to Omicron having a higher number of mutations than other Covid variants, it can sometimes slip past the antibodies created by vaccination or infection. However, if the virus still does [...]
More than half a million Brits sign petition to cancel Sir Tony Blair’s knighthood January 4, 2022 Support for a petition to have former prime minister Tony Blair’s knighthood “rescinded” is gaining momentum, as more than half a million people have signed so far. Sir Tony was appointed by the Queen a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry. The [...]
New year, new record: S&P 500 hitting new high on first day of 2022 is sign investors remain bullish about stocks January 4, 2022 The new year start off with a bang for global markets as Wall Street recorded record highs for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Dow finished 0.7% higher. Both indexes eclipsed the record highs they set last Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%. Technology stocks [...]