London economy steams ahead to top UK growth league and on track to avoid recession March 13, 2023 London’s economy is racing ahead of the rest of the UK and is on track to power the country’s GDP out of its current slump, new figures out today show. The capital’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) shot up to 56 points last month, up sharply from 50.5 points and far above the 50 point threshold [...]
Recession kicked into long grass as UK steams ahead of Europe and US March 13, 2023 A recession hitting the UK economy is looking like an increasingly far flung prospect after yet more data today shows businesses and families are fending off the cost of living crunch. A net balance of 43 per cent of UK businesses are buoyant about the economy over the coming year, the highest level in a [...]
Budget: Childcare support and energy bills on Hunt’s to-do list March 12, 2023 Ending the prepayment meter penalty on energy bills and boosting childcare support for the poorest parents are among measures set to be announced in the spring budget. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this weekend confirmed households on prepayment meters will no longer pay more than people on direct debits, as of July 2023. Energy security secretary Grant [...]
Tube and rail strikes THIS WEEK: How will industrial action affect London commuters and hospitality? March 11, 2023 Parts of Britain’s rail network – including London’s underground system – will be closed during next week’s Budget day strikes, bringing the country to a standstill and hitting hospitality hard. Hospitality bosses have warned the impact of the strikes will hit pubs, bars and restaurants hard, with an estimated £2.5bn having already been lost in [...]
BP boss Looney’s pay doubles to £10m – 170 times more than his average employee March 10, 2023 The boss of BP earned more than 170 times more than his average employee last year as his pay doubled to around £10 million after the company benefited from the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. New figures from the oil giant showed that Bernard Looney’s total pay packet increased from around £4.5 million in 2021. [...]
UK economy ‘bounces back’ in another signal a recession is off the table but experts warn of stagnation March 10, 2023 The UK economy “bounced back” from a sharp contraction over Christmas and is holding up better than feared in another sign the country could avoid a recession, official figures out today show. Gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 0.3 per cent in January, better than the consensus forecast of 0.1 per cent growth, according to the [...]
The iron grip of Whitehall-think of keeping Britain’s productivity down March 10, 2023 Jeremy Hunt needs to keep the ship steady, but he’s also missing an obvious trick to allow Britain to build up it’s depleted productivity again, writes John Dickie
Tesco on hunt for a ‘heavyweight’ boardroom figure as it swoops to replace John Allan March 9, 2023 Tesco is understood to have approached a number of “heavyweight” boardroom figures, to scope out their interests in replacing outspoken chairman John Allan. According to reports in Sky News, the FTSE 100 supermarket is working with headhunters to find a replacement for the leader who is set to leave the grocer in 2024. Allan, has [...]
FTSE 100 live: London takes fright as Powell testimony scares off blue chip investors March 9, 2023 London’s main index took another step back on Thursday as a second day of testimony in front of Washington lawmakers by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell largely stuck to the hawkish tone of the previous day. The FTSE 100 was last at 7,868.64, down 61.28 points or 0.77 per cent while the FTSE 250 which includes [...]
Connect More: Looking after your mental health and wellbeing with digital support March 9, 2023 Having a proactive attitude to our mental health is crucial for us all. And now it’s even easier with a raft of digital services Great strides have been made over the past few years around raising the profile of mental health and wellbeing and its importance in our lives. Since the pandemic there has been [...]