Social rent increases may not ‘move dial’ on housebuilding, Rachel Reeves warned August 21, 2024 Rachel Reeves’ plans to increase social rent may not “move the dial in a material way” on council housebuilding, a corporate finance firm is warning. The Chancellor will reportedly up social rent by bringing in a decade-long formula to raise housing costs in England boosted by the CPI inflation measure – currently 2.2 per cent [...]
Growth in food retail at highest in two years thanks to summer finally arriving August 21, 2024 After a damp start to summer, till sales growth boomed in July to record the strongest growth for food retail in two years. Total till sales at UK supermarkets grew 5.5 per cent in the four weeks ending 10 August 2024, up from 3.6 per cent in the previous month, according to fresh data by NIQ. [...]
Falling number of London taxi drivers leads to LEVC losing more than £100m August 21, 2024 LEVC is attempting to boost its net worth by £100m to combat the falling number of taxi drivers in central London and the expected further decline in its sales this year. The Coventry-headquartered electric taxi maker, which is also known as London EV Company, is in the process of increasing the value of everything a [...]
Rachel Reeves facing ‘tough choices’ after latest UK borrowing figures August 21, 2024 Already this financial year the government has borrowed £4.7bn more than predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) back in March.
Claridge’s Hotel: Major expansion helps sales and profit surge at five-star London icon August 21, 2024 Sales at Claridge’s Hotel surged by more than 20 per cent in 2023 thanks to a “strong” recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the completion of a major expansion project. The five-star London hotel has reported a turnover of £119.3m for its latest financial year, up from the £98.1m it achieved in 2022. According to [...]
Government borrowing exceeds estimates as public sector spending jumps August 21, 2024 Monthly borrowing figures will be closely watched over the coming months for clues about how much Labour will raise taxes in October's Budget.
Gold hits record high on hopes of Fed rate cut August 20, 2024 The price of gold hit an all time high of $2,513.79 (£1,932.87) per ounce on Tuesday morning as investors hope the US central bank will cut interest rates. The surge in the price of the precious metal, a safe haven asset for investors due to its real world use cases and widely held intrinsic value, [...]
JP Morgan nudges up UK growth forecasts after latest GDP figures August 20, 2024 JP Morgan bumped up their growth forecasts for the UK economy in the third quarter of this year following last week’s GDP figures. The investment bank now expects the economy to grow 0.4 per cent between July and September, up from a previous estimate of 0.3 per cent. This equates to an annualised growth rate [...]
Rick Stein-owned group to open new restaurant in central London after return to profit August 20, 2024 The Stein Group, founded and co-owned by Rick Stein, has announced plans to expand to central London after making its way back into profit last year. Stein’s has reportedly begun the search for a central London site for its thirteenth restaurant. It currently operates twelve eateries across the south of the country, with one already [...]
Compulsory liquidations hit highest level in almost six years August 20, 2024 New figures from the Insolvency Services showed that there were 320 compulsory liquidations in July, the highest number since before the pandemic.