The Analyst: Inflation is coming, and advertisers too September 6, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his third monthly column for City A.M. Inflation is coming for you. Companies such as P&G, Unilever, Kelloggs and Nestle have highlighted the rising cost of [...]
Road haulage bosses warn buckling supply chains will trigger soaring prices September 4, 2021 The “perfect storm” of problems scuppering UK supply chains will increase prices sharply for households across the country, road haulage and food bosses have warned. A paucity of HGV drivers, soaring shipping costs, delays in deliveries from Asia and ongoing Covid related problems have compounded to produce severe shortages of products. Soaring demand as economies [...]
How worker shortages are cleared will determine UK economy’s trajectory September 4, 2021 You would be forgiven for forgetting we are currently amid one of the best runs of economic growth in living memory with all the negative news about supply chain snarl ups, worker shortages and soaring inflation flying around. A slew of data published this week, alongside a raft of announcements from supermarket, retail and food [...]
Doctors for XR forcibly removed from JP Morgan building September 3, 2021 Doctors who staged a ‘die in’ outside the JP Morgan building as part of ongoing Extinction Rebellion protests have been forcibly removed by police. This morning more than 60 doctors, nurses and midwives arrived outside the JP Morgan offices in Canary Wharf to demand an end to fossil fuel financing by banks. Protestors held banners [...]
UK services growth slumps to six-month low despite record hiring rates September 3, 2021 UK services firms hired workers at the fastest pace on record in August to cope with soaring demand, but growth in the industry slumped to a six-month low amid severe shortages, according to a closely watched survey released today. The latest IHS Markit / CIPS UK services PMI survey dropped to 55.0 in August, the [...]
Extinction Rebellion blocks roads outside Bank of England September 2, 2021 Roads outside the Bank of England remain closed as Extinction Rebellion protestors, including 50 activists who are breaking bail conditions, stage a sit-in. In a Tweet this afternoon, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that Queen Victoria Street is closed after green activists made their way from the Tate Modern to the doors of the Bank of [...]
Another Goldman banker or a much needed hawkish voice: Who is Huw Pill? September 2, 2021 Much has been made over whether the corridors of the Bank of England will resemble a Goldman Sachs office following the appointment of Huw Pill as the Old Lady’s new chief economist. It does follow a string of high-profile appointments at the Bank in recent years from the pool of Goldman alumni. Mark Carney, who [...]
IoD appoints former Labour MP Kitty Ussher as new chief economist September 2, 2021 The Institute of Directors has named former Labour MP Kitty Ussher as its new chief economist, the organisation announced today. Ussher has vast experience in providing macroeconomic and public policy advice, serving as the chief economic adviser to the cross-party think tank, Demos, and economic secretary to the Treasury during the financial crisis. Kitty Ussher [...]
Ex-chancellor Philip Hammond accused of lobbying the Treasury by watchdog September 2, 2021 A parliamentary committee has judged that former chancellor Phillip Hammond, breached lobbying rules. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) claims that by contacting a senior Treasury secretary on behalf of a bank he works for Lord Hammond broke committee guidance. Hammond defended the action in a letter to committee chair Lord Eric Pickles. He [...]
Huw Pill succeeds Andy Haldane as Bank of England’s chief economist September 1, 2021 The Bank of England has appointed Huw Pill as its new chief economist, ending a prolonged search for Andy Haldane’s successor, it announced today. Pill joins the Bank of England from Harvard Business School, where he has been a senior lecturer since 2018. Prior to teaching, he was Goldman Sachs’ chief European economist and has [...]