The City View: ‘The balance between medical risk and economic harm is not right’ — Mark Tanzer, CEO of ABTA June 18, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to Mark Tanzer, CEO of ABTA, the travel association, which represents the UK’s travel and tour operators. Mark gives a candid assessment of the challenges facing the sector and also of the government’s response to the crisis. He argues that the quarantine measures were badly conceived, badly implemented and badly [...]
Nationwide to triple deposits for first-time buyers June 17, 2020 Nationwide is to triple its minimum required deposit from first time buyers for mortgages, as it steadies itself to avoid a crisis should the economy worsen. The country’s second largest mortgage lender said it would be increasing its minimum deposit from five per cent to 15 per cent, withdrawing loan deals for new customers. “The [...]
Boohoo set to swoop for bankrupt Oasis and Warehouse June 16, 2020 Online fashion giant Boohoo is set to announce the purchase of high street brands Oasis and Warehouse, which went bankrupt at the end of April. Sky News reported that the deal could be announced tomorrow when Boohoo releases its first quarter results. When the two brands collapsed into administration on 30 April, with 1,803 redundancies, [...]
Monsoon Accessorize owner buys retailer out of administration, with 545 jobs lost June 10, 2020 Monsoon Accessorize founder Peter Simon has bought the struggling business out of administration, in a move which aims to save both brands but cuts 545 jobs in the process. As a result of the deal, 35 of the company’s stores across the UK will close, resulting in the initial job losses. Simon will try to [...]
UK house prices drop for third month running as coronavirus bites June 5, 2020 UK house prices fell for the third month in a row in May as coronavirus continued to plague the property market, according to a closely watched gauge. However, the drop slowed compared to April. Prices fell 0.2 per cent month on month in May, the Halifax house price index showed. This compared with a 0.6 [...]
Coronavirus: UK car sales suffer worst May performance since 1952 June 4, 2020 UK new car sales crashed 89 per cent last month as car dealerships remained shuttered, marking the industry’s worst May performance since 1952. Only 20,247 new cars were sold over the month — a decline of 163,477 compared to the same month last year, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and [...]
UK house prices tumble at fastest rate since 2009 amid coronavirus June 2, 2020 UK house prices dropped at the fastest rate since the financial crisis in February 2009 last month, figures have shown, as the coronavirus pandemic brought the property market to a standstill. House prices tumbled by 1.7 per cent in May compared to growth of 0.9 per cent a month earlier, according to the closely watched [...]
Trading the covid commodities contango May 26, 2020 In the last 12 years, the oil market has thrice collapsed and twice recovered. But this latest downturn, driven by a covid-tainted drop in demand and a Russo-Saudi price war, has analysts scratching their heads. Can the market rebound from this? The price of US oil turned negative for the first time in history last [...]
Closing the backdoor to EU dumping May 25, 2020 Full sovereignty is fundamental to the UK’s success in the post-Brexit future. For it to be achieved a number of loose ends left by the Brexit withdrawal process must be tied up. This should now be a priority for the future trade deal, so the UK can ensure UK citizens and businesses can compete fairly [...]
Crypto AM: Shines its Spotlight on Electroneum May 19, 2020 Imagine a cryptocurrency for social impact that solves many of the issues the 1.7 billion unbanked people around the world face today. Now envision one with the potential to empower hundreds of millions anywhere with instant access to the global digital economy unlocking for them the opportunity to earn crypto and use it to live [...]