Bets against pound mount after Bank of England rate inertia November 23, 2021 Traders are strengthening their stance against the pound after the Bank of England scuppered City bets on a first rate hike in three years this month. Short bets – in which traders borrow assets and sell them expecting to make a profit in the future after their price falls – have mounted to around £2bn, [...]
PMI: UK businesses buckle under weight of record cost rises as City strengthens BoE rate hike bets November 23, 2021 UK businesses are buckling under the weight of costs swelling at the fastest pace on record, according to a closely watched survey released today. A toxic combination of supply chains wilting, demand for goods and raw materials running red-hot and crippling worker shortages have propelled businesses’ costs. The November increase in average cost burdens was [...]
BoE governor says cash is disappearing as he makes case for Britcoin November 22, 2021 A central bank bigwig has said that the disappearance of cash underpins the case for a central bank issued digital currency (CBDC).
CBI chief: Spectre of inflation is ‘very real’ and larger than we thought November 22, 2021 The chief of the influential business group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that inflation is “very real” and is threatening to squeeze British firms. Speaking at the CBI’s annual conference, the group’s director general Tony Danker warned that pay hikes will “spill over” into prices, intensifying the cost of living crisis pinching [...]
London markets boosted by rallying bank stocks as rate hike bets lift sentiment toward sector November 22, 2021 A rally among banks boosted London markets this morning as sentiment toward the sector improved on strengthening prospects of the Bank of England hiking rates. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed 0.49 per cent 7,258.91 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.30 per cent to 23,561.92 points. The likes of Barclays, NatWest and [...]
Andrew Bailey: Public sector hiring surge is squeezing UK job market November 21, 2021 A surge in public sector hiring is helping contribute to labour market shortages in the UK, according to Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey. Bailey said the public sector has grown so much that it created as many jobs as were lost during the pandemic. “Public-sector employment has increased – we reckon it’s about 200,000 [...]
Second-hand shopping lifts retail sales above pre-pandemic levels November 19, 2021 Retail sales jumped over the last month as consumers flocked to charity shops, according to data from the Office for National Statistics published today. Retail sales jumped 0.8 per cent over the last month and soared above pre-pandemic levels. Spending at second hand clothes stores climbed over the last month, driving overall retail sales higher [...]
Rush to buy Christmas presents lifts Brits’ optimism November 19, 2021 A rush to buy Christmas presents early to avoid being stung by potential shortages has lifted Brits’ confidence. Shoppers are ready to pounce on big ticket purchases at Black Friday and over the festive period, research by GfK has found. Intention to splurge on expensive products jumped seven percentage points over the last month, climbing [...]
A Churchillian answer to the Covid-19 debt: what we need is emergency consols November 19, 2021 The budget numbers are stark: taxes rising to their highest since the 1950s, government debt hitting 97 per cent of the national income, and that’s if we’re lucky. Much of the problem is down to the cost of pandemic measures—furlough, welfare, business loans and lower lockdown tax revenues—of around £550bn, equating to £20,000 for every [...]
EY faces mounting staff backlash over sexual harassment case November 18, 2021 EY has come under fire from its own workforce for allowing a partner to retain his job after sexually harassing a junior female colleague on a company ski trip, according to reports. The accounting giant told staff it would do more to tackle inappropriate behaviour, following the case of Neil Hutt, a transactions partner who [...]