The City needs a shake-up for Britain to attract the £1trillion it needs, warns Sir Nigel Wilson September 6, 2024 The UK must unlock a wave of cash from domestic pension funds and revamp the structure of its capital markets to attract the £1 trillion of investment needed to achieve its target growth rate over the next decade, a report by a City grandee has found. The Capital Markets of Tomorrow report, led by former [...]
How Asos’ post-pandemic debt led it to sell Topshop September 5, 2024 Three years after buying the British high street brands Topshop and Topman from Phillip Green’s collapsed Arcadia empire, Asos has said it will sell 75 per cent of its stake in the brands to a joint venture with Heartland. Asos bought the brands at a buoyant time for the company when its stock was near [...]
Water: Tougher regulation will attract ‘global investment’, Steve Reed claims September 5, 2024 Steve Reed has claimed that toughening up water regulation will “attract global investment” to rebuild the UK’s sewage and pipeline infrastructure. The environment secretary today insisted his efforts to reform the under-fire industry—including the threat of prison time for rogue water bosses—would create “growth and opportunity.” It comes after Reed unveiled the Water (Special Measures) [...]
Construction sector ‘turns a corner’ as housebuilding jumps September 5, 2024 Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the recovery in housebuilding was the "most notable development" in August.
Bank of England should take ‘measured approach’ to interest rate cuts after balanced survey September 5, 2024 The Bank of England’s survey covers prices charged across the whole economy, not just in consumer-facing firms.
Ornua Foods: Pilgrims Choice and Kerrygold maker churns up £500m UK sales September 5, 2024 Turnover at the UK division of Ornua Foods, the maker of Pilgrims Choice cheese and Kerrygold butter, surged to more than £500m during its latest financial year. The Staffordshire-headquartered arm’s sales totalled £523.8m in the year to 30 December, 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. The figure comes after Ornua Foods reported a [...]
Samworth Brothers: Profit slashed despite price rises at Ginsters owner September 5, 2024 Sales at Samworth Brothers, the food giant that owns the likes of Soreen, West Cornwall Pasty Co and Ginsters, passed £1.5bn as its raised prices for its customers in 2023, it has been revealed. The Leicestershire-headquartered group said inflation through its supply chain pushed prices for customers up, “despite our significant efforts to mitigate these [...]
Lloyd’s of London reports ‘superb’ first half but warns of digitisation delays September 5, 2024 Lloyd’s of London, the storied insurance market and one of the world’s largest providers of reinsurance, has reported a jump in profit today but warned its landmark digitisation project was taking “longer than expected”. Lloyd’s reported an overall profit before tax of £4.9bn in the first half of 2024, up from the figure of £3.9bn [...]
UK unlikely to move into ‘fast lane’ despite surprisingly strong growth this year September 5, 2024 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has lifted its growth forecasts for the economy this year, but remained doubtful that the UK would move into the “fast lane” any time soon. The business group’s latest quarterly projections suggest the UK will grow 1.1 per cent this year, an upgrade on its previous estimate of 0.8 [...]
Playing nice with trade unions won’t fix public services September 5, 2024 With trade unions promising further strike action despite generous pay settlements, Labour have found themselves in a bind of their own making, say Matthew Lesh Throughout the election campaign, Keir Starmer repeatedly pledged to end strikes by engaging in constructive dialogue with the unions. This always sounded like a pretty hollow promise. How could simply talking to [...]