John Lewis CEO: Bailey wants you to be gloomy – and it’s working August 13, 2023 The new Chief Executive of John Lewis has given a stark warning to the Bank of England, cautioning against higher interest rates that could “tip into recession”. Nish Kankiwala was appointed as the Partnership’s first Chief Executive in March and has since been laying out his recovery plan for the struggling high street favourites John [...]
After the economy grew again, will Bank of England’s rate hikes tip the UK into recession? August 11, 2023 The UK economy grew faster than expected in June, expanded 0.5 per cent, helping to bring growth in the second quarter to 0.2 per cent – but analysts are divided about what the figures say for the coming months. Growth in June was given a boost by a strong performance from the production sector, which [...]
Mortgage and rent payments ‘difficult’ for almost 40 per cent of Brits August 11, 2023 Some 38 per cent of Brits have confessed to finding it difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments over the past month, as the cost of living crisis continues to wreak havoc on the public’s personal finances. This figure was around 29 per cent in early August 2022, new figures from the ONS show, [...]
FTSE 100 close: Stronger growth not enough to keep London markets from dropping August 11, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 closed significantly lower on Friday, despite a better than expected GDP reading, as a stronger pound and concerns over the Chinese economy dampened sentiment. The FTSE 100 index closed 1.26 per cent lower at 7,522.86 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index fell 0.9 per cent to 18,822.50. The disappointing performance came despite [...]
UK economy shrugs off recession risk after growing faster than expected August 11, 2023 The UK grew faster than expected in the second quarter of the year as the economy proved itself more resilient to rising rates than many had expected, helping to reduce the risk of recession. Across the second quarter, the economy grew 0.2 per cent following a 0.1 per cent expansion in the first quarter, the [...]
Analysis: Wilko collapse is the Woolworths of this financial crisis August 10, 2023 The collapse of Woolworths was described as “the first domino of physical retail Armageddon.” Although it might not justify that epithet, the collapse of Wilko shows which way the wind is now blowing.
Arrears continue to rise as higher rates pour pain onto borrowers August 10, 2023 Arrears continued rising in the second quarter as customers struggled with soaring repayment costs, new data shows. According to figures from industry body UK Finance, there were 81,900 homeowner mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, seven per cent more than the previous quarter. Within this, 30,940 mortgages were [...]
Rents likely to continue rising sharply despite cost of living crisis August 10, 2023 Rents are likely to continue rising sharply despite the cost of living crisis, surveyors are warning. Property professionals’ expectations that rents will rise in the next few months are at the strongest levels seen so far this century, the findings from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) indicate. A net balance of 63 per [...]
Brokers predict ‘mortgage price war’ as lenders including HSBC and Nationwide cut rates again August 9, 2023 Brokers have suggested there could be a “mortgage price war” as lenders continue to reduce rates amid hopes inflation is finally on the way down. Nationwide reduced prices on some of its fixed products by up to 0.55 percentage points while HSBC reduced rates by up to 0.2 percentage points. TSB also lowered rates by [...]
Bellway ‘taking steps to reduce headcount’ as rate hikes continue mortgage slowdown August 9, 2023 British housebuilder Bellway’s underlying operating margin will contract from 18.5 per cent to 16 per cent as mortgage rates continue to slow down demand in the sector. The home construction company completed the build of 10,945 homes in the year ended 31 July falling from 11,198 in the same period last year. As the central [...]