WH Smith: Resurgent global travel boosts airport giant’s profits – and it’s committed to the high street too April 20, 2023 WH Smith has benefited significantly from the return of global air travel with a big boost in profit on last year. The popular high street newsagent reported £45m in pre-tax profits, up from £18m last year, as millions came through airports where Smiths has many outlets. In the six months to February 2023, it announced [...]
Can Amazon Prime, Netflix and the streamers survive the UK’s recession fears? April 20, 2023 The number of British households signed up to streaming platforms has slumped so far this year, as more cash-strapped viewers trim their subscriptions to cut costs. The number of homes subscribed to at least one video streaming platform fell to 16.1 million between January and March this year, down from 16.91 million during the same [...]
Deliveroo: Nine per cent dip in orders as Brits lay off takeaways in hard times – but revenues propped up by ads April 20, 2023 Deliveroo reported a disappointing nine per cent drop in takeaway orders but it was not enough to dampen a spike in its revenue for the first leg of the year. Tthe average number of customers visiting the app fell to 7.1 million from 7.6 million in the same period last year, as high inflation and [...]
Dunelm: Savvy shoppers cash in on later winter sales as online purchasing booms April 20, 2023 Dunelm shoppers looking to bag a bargain were boosted by a delayed winter sale, with online purchases seeing another post-pandemic bump. The London-listed retailer reported sales of £432m up from £399m in the same period compared to last year. Dunelm attributed the moving of its Winter sale into the third quarter – compared to the [...]
Interview: Ovo Energy’s boss bets on green future to cement Big Six status April 20, 2023 Ovo Energy’s CEO Raman Bhatia talks about the sector’s latest challenges, from driving renewable energy to rethinking forced prepayment meters.
Stop pitting home ownership against the rental market, we need both for Londoners April 20, 2023 Slashing private landlord investment in the London rental market was a bad idea, and now we don't have enough properties to rent while people queue for viewings and prices skyrocket, writes Theresa Wallace
Could IFS project help solve the UK’s pensions crisis? April 20, 2023 A two year project which aims to come up with long-term solutions to the UK’s pensions crisis has been launched by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in partnership with abrdn’s Financial Fairness Trust. The Pensions Review will run for two and a half years and “comprehensively assess the consequences of current pension policy, the economic [...]
Credit card market ‘broken’ with as little as three per cent of customers switching, but could open banking provide a solution? April 19, 2023 The UK’s credit card market is “broken” with as few as three per cent of customers changing providers despite the hefty costs that consumers face, a new report shows. According to fintech firm Cardeo, the UK is the European country most reliant on credit card spending with 35 per cent of consumer credit in credit [...]
London rent averages over £900 a month as desperate renters battle over fewer properties April 19, 2023 Private renters in London are faced with the highest costs since 2012 as a sparse and competitive market send the cost of homes in the capital to new highs. Landlords in the capital increased rent by 4.8 per cent in the 12 months to March 2023, up from an increase of 4.6 per cent in [...]
Bank of England to hike interest rates to five per cent after inflation tops forecasts to stay in double digits April 19, 2023 UK inflation has smashed expectations to stick in the double digits, in a sign that the cost of living crisis is still gripping families and businesses across the country, prompting markets to bet the Bank of England will hike interest rates to five per cent. The rate of price increases trimmed to 10.1 per cent [...]