For your next career opportunity, look beyond the boardroom January 14, 2025 After a successful career in business, Sir Rod Aldridge stepped onto the board of the North’s leading arts institution The Lowry. Here explains why the best career moves are sometimes the most unexpected When I was approached about the role of chair at The Lowry, the North West’s leading arts institution, I’ll admit it felt [...]
Transform Your Finances With These 8 Habits [2024] January 13, 2025 It’s 2024, and the financial landscape is becoming ever more volatile, leaving many wondering how to navigate the turbulence and come out unscathed. With rising inflation, unpredictable markets, and a wealth of new financial innovations, having your finances in order has never been more important. But for many people, addressing these challenges can be overwhelming, [...]
Rachel Reeves or Liz Truss: Who really ‘crashed the economy’? January 10, 2025 Amid UK bond market turmoil, how does Reeves' budget compare to Truss' - and who is really responsible for 'crashing the economy'?
Back to the 80s to fix the housing crisis January 10, 2025 Experts have been warning about the housing crisis for decades – and the solutions have been staring us in the face for just as long, says Kristian Niemietz “[T]he planning system […] has significantly increased land and housing prices […] and distorted the economic structure, all of which have led to the British standard of [...]
B&M: Festive season of bargain shopping helps ‘undistracted’ value retailer January 9, 2025 Value retailer B&M Bargains reported strong revenue growth throughout the golden quarter as consumers sought out low-discount options to meet their festive shopping needs. However, the caution imposed by a challenging environment ahead for the retail sector due to tax hikes and employment costs caused B&M shares to fall by 8.5 per cent today. In [...]
Give parliament a vote on quantitative easing January 9, 2025 QE should not be the preserve of bean-counting central bankers – money printing is not an abstract issue, it has real consequences for people’s ordinary lives, says Sam Bidwell If one thing characterises British politics in the post-Thatcher era, it is a serial addiction to avoiding questions about the structure of our economy. On the [...]
Crown Paints: Losses double as more jobs lost amid DIY downturn January 3, 2025 Crown Paints saw its pre-tax loss more than double as it shed further jobs despite sales rising, it has been revealed. In delayed accounts, the Lancashire-headquartered firm has reported a pre-tax loss of £16.1m for 2023. The figure comes after Crown Paints made a pre-tax loss of £8m in the prior 12 months. However, the [...]
Not-so-golden quarter: Retail footfall slumps in another disappointing year January 3, 2025 A dull December marked the end of yet another “disappointing” year for UK retail footfall as fresh data has revealed 2024 was the second year in a row to see a decline. According to recent Sensormatic data by the British Retail Consortium, UK footfall fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year during the three months to December, [...]
Abel & Cole owner enters the red as it battles cost-of-living crisis January 2, 2025 The owner of organic vegetables box business Abel & Cole fell into the red despite sales increasing as it battled the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. William Jackson Food Group, which acquired Abel & Cole in 2012, has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.5m for the year to 27 April, 2024. The loss comes after the [...]
From Trump to COP: A look ahead to the political year in 2025 December 29, 2024 After a whirlwind of a political year in 2024, with elections in the US, UK and across much of the globe, 2025 is already shaping up to be another momentous 12 months. From the return of President Donald Trump to the White House in January, to the challenges ahead for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, [...]