Industries face an existential crisis unless they adopt long-term green strategies July 1, 2019 Climate change is one topic that has managed to rise above both Brexit and the Tory leadership campaign in the news agenda. The future of the environment is an issue that affects us all, not least the City. That is why tomorrow’s Green Finance Summit is an important opportunity to bring together green leaders from [...]
Tech startups’ confidence rises despite political uncertainty July 1, 2019 Confidence levels among UK tech startups has ticked up fractionally over the last quarter, despite the impact of the unsettled political landscape. New data from tech firm Studio Graphene revealed 80 per cent of tech startups are either confident or very confident about their growth prospects for the coming year, a one per cent rise [...]
Low growth predicted in second quarter as Brexit uncertainty and rising costs bite July 1, 2019 Two of Britain’s biggest business groups have warned of dismal growth for the second quarter of 2019 as political turmoil and rising costs take a heavy toll on the UK economy. Downbeat forecasts for the health of the country’s private sector have been laid bare by two major business trade bodies, the British Chambers of [...]
UK’s top 100 law firms report strong year despite final quarter slump July 1, 2019 The UK’s top 100 law firms grew fee income seven per cent in the year to 30 April, according to data published today. The strong performance is a slight dip on last year’s average fee income increase of 7.7 per cent, according to audit firm Deloitte’s quarterly legal sector survey. Jeremy Black, partner in Deloitte’s [...]
Jaguar to announce huge investment in UK electric car manufacturing June 30, 2019 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will plough hundreds of millions of pounds into the British car industry by preparing one of its factories to build electric cars, in a much-needed boost for the sector. JLR will modify its Castle Bromwich plant to build a series of three all-electric models, starting with an electric version of its [...]
Tories draw up new Brexit battle lines June 30, 2019 The Conservative party’s final two contenders for prime minister bulked up their plans for a showdown with Brussels over the weekend, while the frontrunner – Boris Johnson – also sought to talk up his pro-business credentials. Confronted about an incident last year in which Johnson said “f*** business” during a Brexit debate, the former London [...]
UK readies for no-deal Brexit with fresh freight plans June 29, 2019 The government is asking transport firms to make an offer to provide extra freight capacity that would be used in the event of a no-deal Brexit at the end of October. More than £85m was wasted in the lead up to the initial date the UK was due to leave the EU following a rushed [...]
Housebuilders boosted by Boris Johnson no-deal Brexit budget June 28, 2019 Housebuilders were among the biggest risers in the FTSE 100 this morning after Boris Johnson, the front runner to be the next prime minister, said he would slash stamp duty and tax in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Berkeley Group shares were up 3.16 per cent today followed by Persimmon, which rose 2.63 per [...]
Brexit stockpiling helps UK economy grow 1.8 per cent in early 2019 June 28, 2019 Brexit stockpiling gave a 1.8 per cent boost to the UK economy in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same quarter last year, figures confirmed today. UK GDP rose 1.8 per cent in January to March compared to its corresponding 2018 quarter. That figure beat the 1.4 per cent quarterly growth between October [...]
Should 160,000 Tories choose our next Prime Minister? Yes, actually June 28, 2019 Discussing the Tory leadership election on Sky News earlier this week, host Adam Boulton asked me why the party members seemed so relaxed about Boris Johnson’s controversial private life. “Isn’t this the party of family values?” Boulton asked. It’s a fair point. Three quarters of the party’s 160,000 members believe that “young people today don’t [...]