UK GDP up 4.8 per cent in second quarter : CityAM August 12, 2021 The UK economy grew at a rate of 4.8 per cent in the second quarter, data from the ONS said today, as the bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic continues. As a result, GDP is now 4.4 per cent below where it was in the last quarter of 2019, before Covid-19 struck. Also Read: PwC [...]
UK lobbying regulator investigating Philip Hammond August 11, 2021 Former chancellor Philip Hammond is being probed by the UK’s lobbying regulator, after contacting a Treasury official on behalf of a bank he was working for. The Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is investigating whether Hammond should have disclosed his contact with senior Treasury mandarin Charles Roxburgh in July 2020. Hammond was contacting [...]
US inflation comes in hotter than expected in July August 11, 2021 US inflation come in higher than expectations in July and is still running above historic levels, according to official figures released today. US inflation hit 5.4 per cent annually in July, the same rate recorded in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly inflation cooled to 0.5 per cent from 0.9 per [...]
Why you should break out the tweed for the Glorious Twelfth August 10, 2021 In Britain, 12 August – AKA the Glorious Twelfth – is the first day of the season for red grouse. This is not just tradition but law: read the Game Act 1831 for further details. It is a day of great excitement and activity on our vast grouse moors, so big they account for nearly [...]
David Cameron was paid £7.2m by Greensill Capital before collapse August 9, 2021 David Cameron was paid a total of £7.2m over a number of years by failed supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital before it went bust in March. Documents, uncovered by the BBC Panorama, have revealed this included £3.3m he received after selling his Greensill share options in 2019. Cameron has said in the past that [...]
London needs to work with cities around the country for economic recovery August 9, 2021 As Lord Mayor, I would normally have visited more than 20 countries over the course of the year, to promote partnership with the UK’s world-leading enterprises – mainly financial and professional services – and showcase our unique cultural offer. Since the start of the pandemic I have replaced these with over 2,500 video calls. It [...]
Weekend Read: We may be about to find out what shape the recovery takes August 7, 2021 Since the first cases of Covid-19 began to disrupt the global economy, economists have not been shy of predictions. V-shaped, L-shaped, even hockey-stick recoveries have all been on the table. We may be about to find out who was right. While output growth and economic activity are still historically strong, in developed economies, those indicators [...]
Private equity needs to start speaking up for itself – it could be the key to ‘levelling up’ August 6, 2021 Private equity’s reputation is once again in the spotlight. With the supermarket Morrisons in the industry’s crosshairs, the public memory is reminded of previous scandals involving other household names. The multi-billion-pound bidding war for a major employer, headquartered in the north of England, has understandably attracted the interest of ministers and opposition politicians sensitive to [...]
Wall Street lifted by Covid-era low jobless claims August 5, 2021 US stocks opened up sharply on Thursday morning after investors were boosted by fresh data showing the American labour market recovery still has legs. The blue-chip S&P 500 gained 0.43 per cent to reach 4,421, while the Dow Jones shot up 0.6 per cent to 34,998. The tech-heavy Nasdaq notched the best performance out the [...]
Venezuela to shave six zeroes off its inflation battered currency August 5, 2021 The Venezuelan central bank will shave six zeroes off the country’s currency, the bolivar, to make transactions less complicated, it said on Thursday. The change will come into force on 1 October with the distribution of new currency notes. “All monetary amounts expressed in national currency will be divided by one million,” the central bank [...]