Retail in 2025: The year of personalisation, AI, wellness – and no more barcodes December 24, 2024 2024 has been a tough year for retail. From companies sounding the alarm on business rates in the first half of the year to low consumer confidence and footfall proving stickier than expected, the festive period has now been overshadowed by stark warnings about further cost rises next year. Restructuring partner at RSM UK, Gordon [...]
Thames Water: Major upgrades mothballed despite dividend payouts December 23, 2024 Thames Water diverted millions of pounds it had pledged for environmental clean-ups towards funding bonuses and investor payouts. According to the Guardian, secret discussions were held to consider the risk of a public and regulatory backlash against such a move, which could be seen as a breach of the company’s license commitments and leave it [...]
Business confidence ended 2024 at low point on jobs and prices fears December 23, 2024 Business confidence fell to its lowest level in 2024 during December, as fears around layoffs and price increases hurt opportunity for business growth. Business confidence ticked down by two points to 39 per cent this month, though remained above the long-term average of 29 per cent, according to the latest Lloyds Business Barometer. “While there [...]
Housing sales end year on a high but fears about mortgage rates linger December 23, 2024 The London housing market has ended 2024 on a high, although buyers remain price-sensitive and concerned about the cost of mortgages. Over 280,000 homes worth £104bn are in the sales pipeline for 2025 – the highest number in four years, according to Zoopla. In another good sign, house prices returned to growth – up 1.9 [...]
FTSE 100 logs worst week in more than a year December 21, 2024 The FTSE 100 touched a more than one-month low on Friday and logged its sharpest drop since October 2023 for a week filled with a raft of central bank policy decisions. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.3 per cent, hitting its lowest since 13 November, though the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.3 per cent, after [...]
UK retail sales rise slightly in November amid concern over golden quarter December 20, 2024 The latest ONS data showed retail sales jumped 0.2 per cent last month, following a 0.7 per cent fall in October.
Government borrowing plummets thanks to rising tax take December 20, 2024 Government borrowing dropped to £11.4bn in November, £3.4bn lower than last year, as higher tax receipts and lower debt interest gave the government a much needed boost. With the lowest November borrowing in three years, the current budget deficit, or amount of borrowing to fund day-to-day public sector activities, also dropped by more than a [...]
Bank of England may be forced to prioritise growth in 2025 December 19, 2024 Despite inflation continuing to be a headache for the Bank of England, leading it to hold interest rates today, the central bank may end up being forced to make more cuts than it would like in 2025 to salvage the UK economy. While today’s decision from Andrew Bailey’s Monetary Policy Committee to hold rates had [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates and downgrades growth forecasts December 19, 2024 The Bank of England held interest rates at 4.75 per cent today, while downgrading economic forecasts for the UK towards stagnant growth. Only six members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep interest rates steady, less than had been expected, as three voted to cut rates by 0.25 per cent citing fears over [...]
US markets tumble as Fed signals fewer interest rate cuts in 2025 December 19, 2024 US markets plunged last night after the Federal Reserve signalled that it would take a more cautious path to interest rate cuts next year. Following the Fed’s announcement, the Dow Jones fell 2.6 per cent, the S&P 500 fell three per cent, and the Nasdaq fell 3.6 per cent. This was the biggest decline in [...]