UK media profit warnings hit record high amid Covid-19 advertising slump August 11, 2020 The number of profit warnings issued by FTSE-listed media companies hit an all-time high in the first half of the year as the coronavirus crisis sparked a collapse in advertising revenue. Between January and June 59 per cent of the media sector issued one or more profit warnings, with 81 per cent citing Covid-19. A [...]
Four charts that show how badly the pandemic has hit UK jobs August 11, 2020 The largest number of people lost jobs in the UK in one quarter since the height of the financial crisis, official statistics showed today. According to data from the ONS, 32.9m people aged 16 years and over are currently in employment, 220,000 fewer than the previous quarter. That’s the single largest decrease since May to [...]
UK unemployment: 730,000 Brits lose their jobs in lockdown August 11, 2020 Around 730,000 people have lost their jobs in the UK since lockdown began in March, official statistics showed today, in the largest quarterly slump in employment since 2009. Since June, a further 114,000 people became unemployed, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) added. The UK unemployment rate stands at 3.9 per cent for the prior [...]
The UK is falling behind in AI race, warns Microsoft August 11, 2020 The UK risks falling into an artificial intelligence skills gap, Microsoft said today, after it found most businesses in Britain use the technology less frequently and at a less advanced level. The software giant said in its annual report that projects using AI in the UK has a higher failure rate — meaning they generate [...]
UK house prices jump in July in post-lockdown ‘mini-boom’ August 7, 2020 UK house prices jumped in July after coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased and the government announced a stamp duty holiday, sparking a “mini-boom” in the property market. UK house prices in July were 1.6 per cent higher than the previous month. House prices last month were also 3.8 per cent up compared to July 2019, according [...]
Wirecard business partner reported dead in Philippines amid investigation August 6, 2020 A German businessman responsible for one of Wirecard’s biggest sources of profit has been reported dead in the Philippines amid ongoing investigations into his involvement with the disgraced payments firm’s collapse in June. Filipino authorities are seeking to confirm whether a recently registered death was that of former Wirecard executive Christopher Bauer, one of several [...]
How to improve your forecasting in a constantly changing world August 6, 2020 Companies are moving to the next phase of business planning, with one eye on economic recovery and the other on what their business and industry will look like as they emerge from and go beyond the crisis. But the future is a blind spot for many. Prior forecasting methods, based on past customer demand, may [...]
Economists question Bank of England’s ‘optimistic’ forecast August 6, 2020 The Bank of England today kept interest rates on hold and said the UK economy would not shrink as much as initially thought this year, but it said the recovery would take longer. But some economists have questioned the assumptions, arguing that high unemployment will damage the economy. The Bank said the UK economy was [...]
Will the Bank of England change its tune on the UK economy? August 5, 2020 The Bank of England will announce its latest monetary policy decision tomorrow, but investors and policymakers will be focused on whether Threadneedle Street has become more pessimistic about the UK economy. Two months ago, the BoE’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raised some eyebrows when it said the UK economy would suffer an unprecedented crash but [...]
UK businesses grow at fastest rate in five years but employment drops August 5, 2020 The UK economy’s private sector rebounded at its fastest rate in five years in July, according to the final reading of a closely watched measure, as the government eased coronavirus restrictions. The IHS Markit/Cips composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to 57 in July from 47.7 in June. It was slightly lower than a “flash” [...]