‘Major incident’ declared as multiple people stabbed in Birmingham September 6, 2020 Multiple people were stabbed in Birmingham last night in what has been described as a “major incident” by local police. West Midlands Police were called to a first stabbing at 12.30am, before a series of others were also reported. West Midlands mayor Andy Street said the incidents “look to be related”, however police would not [...]
Non-farm payrolls: 1.4m more Americans back in work in August September 4, 2020 A further 1.4m people entered employment in the US in August as the unemployment rate fell from 10.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent. The increase was marginally above economist predictions of a 1.35m rise. However, the figure was down on July’s increase of 1.7m amid fears the US’ economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic [...]
Rishi Sunak must walk a tightrope on his pitch of Tory economic competence September 4, 2020 Yesterday Rishi Sunak was photographed carrying a note with the text of his address to the 1922 Committee. This was something we lived in constant fear of when I worked in No.11. One day I forgot to put a folder round a note I was carrying on our 2018 Budget ‘rabbit’ and subsequently spent the next six [...]
Bank of England: UK economy ‘likely’ to need further stimulus September 4, 2020 Bank of England interest rate-setter Michael Saunders said today that it was “quite likely” that more stimulus will be needed for Britain’s Covid-hit economy in a downbeat speech on the outlook. “I consider it quite likely that additional monetary easing will be appropriate in order to achieve a sustained return of inflation to the two [...]
FTSE 100 rally cools as Wall Street slips from overnight highs September 3, 2020 The FTSE 100’s rally slowed this afternoon, with London’s premier index trading 0.3 per cent up at 5,957.69 points as of the early afternoon. Optimism that the economy could be in line for further stimulus measures kept the market in the black even as Wall Street slipped from last night’s record highs. The FTSE 250 [...]
Jet2 to add more flight capacity despite quarantine regime September 3, 2020 Jet2 owner Dart Group said that it would increase its flying capacity over the rest of the summer season, sending its shares up 2.4 per cent this morning. Despite the coronavirus quarantine restrictions, the London-listed firm said that it was “satisfied with the average load factors and financial contribution” achieved over the summer. Since restarting [...]
The City View: Out of maternity leave and into a pandemic, with Snapchat VP Claire Valoti September 3, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to Claire Valoti, Vice President (International) of messaging giant Snapchat – a platform used by more than 80 per cent of the UK’s 13 – 24 year olds. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Claire came out of maternity leave at the end of March and straight into a global [...]
Bank of England warns of ‘scarring’ to the UK economy September 2, 2020 Bank of England policymakers have stressed that the UK economy faces big risks in the coming months, saying that the “scarring” could be worse than they predicted in August. Speaking to the Treasury Committee of MPs, governor Andrew Bailey said the Bank’s latest forecasts were highly uncertain. He said it was unclear the extent to [...]
Coronavirus: Is the pandemic the final nail in the coffin for property funds? September 2, 2020 As the economy starts to reopen after lockdown, the commercial property sector is looking to bounce back from what has been a difficult year. But the vast majority of the UK’s open-ended property funds remain suspended after they were closed as the coronavirus outbreak took hold. And a recent consultation from the Financial Conduct Authority [...]
UK house prices recover from lockdown to hit all-time high in August September 2, 2020 UK house prices recovered from a lockdown-inspired dip to hit an all-time high last month. Annual UK house price growth picked up 3.7 per cent in August, according to Nationwide’s house price index. Prices rose two per cent month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal factors. The average UK house price rose to £224,123, up from [...]