Time to talk about the price of milk: artisan cheese could save our dairy industry April 21, 2022 Milk has always held a curious place in the political psyche. It has long been used as a measure of affordability of everyday goods – and our leaders’ understanding of the challenges facing many Britons. As inflation, pressures on transport and the war in Ukraine have triggered a spike in prices, the price of milk [...]
Brits bask in Easter weekend sunshine in beer gardens and zoos April 20, 2022 Beaming sunshine and no restrictions on daily life to curb Covid-19 infections prompted Brits to pour into pub gardens, zoos and football grounds over the Easter weekend, fresh research reveals. Temperatures of over 20 degrees notched in many parts of the UK across last weekend led to a boom in spending on some activities that [...]
Cost of living crisis to throttle UK economic growth, IMF warns April 19, 2022 A historic cost of living crunch that is being stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and strict lockdowns in China will disrupt Britain’s road to recovery, fresh forecasts published today by the world’s economic watchdog revealed. UK households are set to slash spending in response to rampant inflation eroding their living standards rapidly, choking growth [...]
Cost of living crisis: High earners with salaries of at least £50k offered more and greater pay rises April 19, 2022 High earners are most likely to have been offered pay increases as the rising cost of living begins to bite, according to new research shared with City A.M. this morning. As inflation grew to its highest level in three decades and 22 million households brace themselves for soaring energy bills, a YouGov survey carried out on behalf of global [...]
The City View: Rob Appleby, CIO of the Cibus Fund, on the future of food, food tech, and supply chain disruption April 13, 2022 Today Andy Silvester chats to Rob Appleby, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of the Cibus Fund, a London-based private equity platform focused on investments in sustainable food and agriculture. They go through the tech revolution in farming; why we should rethink the production of food; the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the global [...]
Inflation reaches 7 per cent as Brits fear cost of living crisis April 13, 2022 The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose seven per cent in the year to March, with Brits braced for sky-high price hikes across essential bills this spring. According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today, the largest contributions to the increase came from motor fuels, with no large offsetting downward contributions. The [...]
Spending cool down weighs on London-listed supermarkets April 12, 2022 Early signs of consumers pulling back on spending drove supermarkets lower today in the City, dragging down London’s top indexes. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 0.55 per cent to 7,576.66 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250, which is more aligned to the health of the UK economy, fell by the same amount [...]
The City View: Victoria Scholar on rising prices, unemployment and retail sales data; and XR cause Lloyd’s of London HQ shutdown April 12, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through some of the week’s economics data on GDP, unemployment, retail sales, and talk trading updates. They discuss the latest from ASOS, Deliveroo, and EasyJet: ASOS is facing a raft of headwinds, as investors lose confidence in the online retailer; [...]
Stateside inflation roars to highest rate since Christmas 1981 April 12, 2022 Stateside inflation has roared to its steepest level since Christmas 1981 in a sign of darker times to come for UK households, reveals official figures released today. Prices are 8.5 per cent higher than they were a year ago in the US, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The damning figures strengthen the [...]
Retail sales slow as consumer confidence now lower than horsemeat scandal April 12, 2022 Retail sales slowed last month as consumer confidence has taken a hit as shoppers feel the bite of rising cost inflation. According to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, sales increased by 3.1 per cent in March. This was worse than a three-month average growth of 6.9 per cent. What’s more, retail [...]