British businesses most optimistic in over a year but London firms sweat over inflation June 30, 2023 British business optimism has climbed to its highest level in over a year despite consumers retreating in response to rising prices and the Bank of England’s aggressive interest rate rises, a survey out today reveals. UK business confidence climbed nine points to 37 per cent in June, taking it up to its highest level since [...]
Lack of available finance hampering SMEs – and things aren’t getting better anytime soon June 29, 2023 Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are struggling to access funding as rising rates force banks to put up the costs of lending. According to YouGov data collected for AIM-listed Manx Financial Group, 40 per cent of SMEs had to stop or pause an area of their business due to a lack of funding over the [...]
B&M: Bargain hunting Brits help budget chain’s revenues top £1bn June 29, 2023 Brits seeking out bargains have continued to drive earnings at value retailer B&M as it reported a 13.5 per cent rise in group revenue in the first leg of the year. The news, however, failed to impress investors as its share price slumped over 6 per cent when markets opened this morning. The homeware to [...]
Mark Kleinman on banks, Ocado and London’s IPO market June 29, 2023 Mark Kleinman is City editor at Sky News Politics could push ministers to punish banks This is a cost of living crisis, not a banking crisis: if I had a fiver for every time a senior bank executive had said that to me over the last 18 months, I’d never need another mortgage of my [...]
Hunt unveils measures to ensure customers get fair pricing June 28, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has drafted an action plan with authorities to ensure customers are being facing fair prices during the cost of living crisis. Hunt sat down with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the regulators for the energy, water and communications sectors, early on Wednesday 28 June at 11 Downing Street. He was [...]
Uber announces new offerings from Majorca to Mykonos due to record tourism June 28, 2023 Uber has announced a host of new upgrades in European holiday hotspots from Spain to Greece, ahead of what is expected to be a record period of tourism demand in Southern Europe. Popular destinations from Croatia’s Split to Portugal’s Algarve will benefit from a swathe of new improvements, with Uber-users in the popular Greek island [...]
Business travel is back and ‘buoyant’, new data shows June 28, 2023 Business travel is back and “buoyant”, according to new data from the Advantage Travel Partnerships’ Global Business Travel Review, with the business community booking more trips and for longer periods. Booking volumes in the UK’s business travel market, covering aviation, rail and accommodation, hit 90.8 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of [...]
Clearpay jobs at risk as BNPL firm winds down EU business June 28, 2023 Buy-now pay-later giant Clearpay is shutting down its EU operations and could lay off all its European staff, City A.M. can reveal.
Teasing supermarket execs won’t stop inflation, it’s suppliers we need to grill June 28, 2023 Supermarket bosses are an easy shot, but its suppliers making profits which would dwarf those of Tesco or Sainsbury's.
Sunak should be modelling his fiscal rules on Clem Attlee’s, not Margaret Thatcher’s June 28, 2023 Debt and inflation are nothing new, but economic conditions today are very different from the past. To get out of the current sandstorm, Sunak should follow the lessons of Clem Attlee writes Paul Ormerod