House price sentiment at its weakest in 13 years, as fears of recession blight market January 19, 2023 House prices continued to fall towards the end of 2022, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The Rics house price balance fell to -42 in December compared to -26 in November, and meant that 42 per cent of surveyors who took part in the survey noted a fall rather than a rise [...]
Naked Wines: 2023 revenues likely to rise but challenging times still ahead January 17, 2023 Naked Wines increased its full year earnings estimates upward to between £13 and17m, compared to previous guidance of around £9m to 13m. In a trading update for the quarter ending 26 December 2022 Naked Wines said it expected trading performance to remain flat, trading compared to the previous year. There was no change to a [...]
First-time buyers spend 39 per cent of take home pay on a mortgage – Nationwide January 13, 2023 Homes for first-time buyers are at their most expensive as a proportion of take-home pay since the financial crisis. The proportion of monthly income that first-time buyers are having to put towards mortgage repayments is returning to levels last seen in the 2008 financial crisis, according to Nationwide. Nationwide, the UK’s third largest lender has [...]
Probe into Revolution Beauty’s accounts flag ‘concerns’ over £9m sales and personal loans made to employees January 13, 2023 An independent investigation into troubled cosmetics maker Revolution Beauty identified concerns, including over certain historical sales, inventory provisioning methods and personal loans made by a former CEO. The probe was instigated by the company’s auditors BDO last autumn and has already claimed the scalp of former chief executive officer Adam Minto who stepped down from the [...]
Marks & Spencer’s top 10 festive favourites: slow-cooked turkey, shortbread snow globes, light-up gin and shapewear to hold it in! January 12, 2023 Marks and Spencer saw a record Christmas trade during the latest festive period, with a record £80m sales alone on 23 December, the last Friday before Christmas. Incoming CEO Stuart Machin can also take comfort in a 7.2 per cent rise in the clothing and home category to £3.6bn. But it was the retailer’s Christmas [...]
Tangle Teezer launches innovation panel to fuel haircare brand’s future growth January 10, 2023 British haircare brand Tangle Teezer has launched an innovation advisory board panel which will bring together global business leaders and experts from across the retail, haircare, technology, ESG, and scientific communities. Last September the breakthrough British company announced record results of £43.5m for the full year 2021, a year-on-year hike of 46 per cent, the [...]
UK enters space race: where to watch the launch of Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl January 9, 2023 Tonight sees the first launch of a space rocket via UK soil, with an expected launch window starting at 21:45pm tonight. The LauncherOne rocket be attached under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 owned by Virgin Orbit which will take off from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport. The mission, dubbed ‘Start Me Up’ mission is a collaborative effort [...]
Inheritance tax: London property nets HMRC £820,000 in death duties on average, double other regions’ intake January 9, 2023 Property makes up half the wealth of estates in London paying inheritance tax (IHT) – around twice as much as most other regions, according to a retirement specialist. An HMRC Freedom of Information (FOI) request from retirement specialist Just Group revealed that in 2019-20, the latest financial year of available data, property accounted for 50 per cent [...]
‘Divorce Day’: Why cash-strapped couples are looking at putting off their split amid money woes January 9, 2023 Over a third of married couples who had been considering a divorce are now opting to stay in their relationship because of the cost-of-living crisis, according to a survey. The first working Monday of the new year has been dubbed ‘Divorce Day’ by lawyers, but many couples are thinking twice before splitting from their partner [...]
Oil giant Shell warns of earnings slide January 6, 2023 Shell has revealed it will face a hit of around $2bn (£1.7bn) to its latest quarterly earnings due to UK and EU windfall taxes. It comes after bosses at the London-listed oil giant said in October they had not paid any UK windfall taxes amid heavy investment in the North Sea. The firm told investors on [...]