Rishi Sunak urged to ‘turn wise words into action’ by FSB chair after small retailers feel ‘abandoned’ March 11, 2022 The chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged chancellor Rishi Sunak to “turn wise words into action”, after the vast majority of micro firms said they felt “abandoned” by his policies. As the cost of living crisis continues to bite for retailers and consumers alike, 2,000 independent retailers were surveyed through Not [...]
Year-ahead inflation expectations hit record high ahead of BoE’s rate decision March 10, 2022 A record proportion of Brits expect the current inflation crunch to linger in a year’s time, fresh data released today reveals. Some 35 per cent of households think the cost of living will top five per cent by this time next year, according to Bank of America. The fresh figures will worry the Bank of [...]
Home sales continue to soar as buyers keen to move despite rates hike March 10, 2022 Home sales surged last month with strong demand from buyers not letting up, even in spite of an uplift to increase rates. The latest RICS Residential Market Survey reported a net balance of nine per cent more respondents saying sales were increasing. This represented the strongest reading since May 2021. The survey also reported a [...]
European Central Bank leaves rates negative despite inflation hitting record high March 10, 2022 The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged in negative territory today despite inflation on the Continent running at a record high. President Christine Lagarde and co kept borrowing costs at minus 0.5 per cent, where they have been for several years, sticking with its more dovish stance toward monetary policy. The ECB has been [...]
Editorial: Shocks happen – and our institutions weren’t ready for this one March 10, 2022 And Rishi Sunak thought the hard bit was over. Wearing the scars of a two-year fight against a global pandemic, he may have thought he’d have some respite to get the public finances in order in time for some pre-election giveaways. That increasingly looks a long prospect. It may feel glib to discuss such matters [...]
Wages continue to surge amid tightening jobs market March 10, 2022 Strong competition for workers amid a tight jobs market is accelerating starting pay at near record highs, reveals a fresh survey published today. A shortage of available workers is driving businesses to hike pay to out muscle competitors from poaching top talent, according to research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG. Starting [...]
Celebrating International Women’s Day – With Wine March 9, 2022 This week was International Women’s Day and it is fitting for me to celebrate this through wine. When drinking, women choose wine nearly twice as often as men but the industry itself is still largely a man’s game. Speaking to some women who have worked in wine for up to 40 years, it is clear [...]
The City View: Energy market volatility March 9, 2022 Today Andy Silvester chats to City A.M. reporters Jack Barnett and Nicholas Earl about volatile energy prices potentially becoming even more so; inflation forecasts, rising consumer prices and what the Bank of England will do vis-à-vis rate hikes; and yesterday’s nickel big short and its impact on the London Metal Exchange. Andy also goes through [...]
How stock markets perform after heavy falls March 9, 2022 While public attention has understandably focused on the grave humanitarian consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, global markets have reflected investors’ concerns about financial and economic impacts. Our live blog on the Ukraine crisis will be updated regularly throughout the week, it can be found here. To date the current crisis has seen major markets fall [...]
Nearly half of all Brits fear inflation may rise more than Bank of England prediction March 9, 2022 About two-fifths of people polled recently have a more pessimistic view about rising inflation than the Bank of England, it has been revealed. Despite the Bank’s prediction of a seven per cent spike in Spring, 39 per cent of respondents to a survey by HR software provider CIPHR thought it would be eight percent or [...]