Interview: Businesses need to get their ‘pound of flesh’ from home workers, says Addison Lee chief July 12, 2023 “We are a real barometer for the London economy,” Liam Griffin, the boss of Addison Lee, says as we chat in the firms’ Paddington offices. The private hire taxi firm has been a stalwart of London for nearly 45 years now, ferrying customers through the boom of the early 2000s, the financial crash of 2008 [...]
‘I started this as a hobby’: Cricket star Stuart Broad reflects on his naive start to the world of hospitality July 12, 2023 England cricketer turned pub landlord Stuart Broad has admitted he had a “naive” understanding about what it took to run a hospitality business, as he reopens his pub amid a period of soaring bills and red hot inflation. The 37-year old sports star has recently relaunched his pub and restaurant The Tap and Run in [...]
UK families set for another year of cost of living crisis and £65bn hit to finances July 12, 2023 UK families are poised to be gripped by the cost of living crisis for nearly another whole year due to the Bank of England keeping interest rates higher for longer in a bid to vanquish inflation, a new report out today claims. Household finances will be corroded by rising living costs and elevated rates until [...]
FTSE 100 close: London index nips higher as Bank of England rate hike bets step up July 11, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 crept higher today as another set of hotter than feared wage numbers pushed pound sterling to its highest level in 15 months. The capital’s premier index nipped 0.12 per cent higher to 7,282.51 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, [...]
Why record wage growth could seal another jumbo interest rate rise from Bank of England July 11, 2023 It seems strange to cheer what economists call a “loosening in the labour market”. What that basically means is: employment growth is slowing, joblessness is on the up, vacancies falling and wage growth receding. Most of those requirements were met in today’s release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In a shock to the [...]
H&T shares up: Pawnbroker lending rockets as cash-strapped Brits sell valuables July 11, 2023 Britain’s biggest pawnbroker H&T saw its share price soar this morning, following news that lending grew 22 per cent as punters have been forced to flog off goods to secure extra funds during the cost of living crisis. Ahead of its interim results, which are due to be published in early August, H&T said that [...]
Mortgage rates climb to 15-year high following surprisingly strong wage growth July 11, 2023 The typical rate available on a two-year fixed mortgage has climbed to a 15-year high, surpassing the levels seen last Autumn in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget. According to Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate hit 6.66 per cent, marginally higher than the 6.65 per cent seen last October. This was the [...]
Shock record wage growth amplifies risk of 14th straight Bank of England interest rate rise July 11, 2023 Workers’ pay is rising faster than expected and at among the quickest paces on record in a sign that the Bank of England will deliver a 14th straight interest rate rise next month, official figures out this morning reveal. Pay excluding bonuses rose 7.3 per cent over the three months to May on an annual [...]
The FTSE 100 has done us all dirty… again July 11, 2023 The FTSE 100 has done us all dirty yet – again. Over and over it marches us up a hill only to send us back down again. Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney is often referred to as the “unreliable boyfriend” of monetary policy making for his comments signalling he and the MPC would [...]
Thames Water hangs on, but its future, and the health of our waterways, remains unclear July 10, 2023 Thames Water’s reprieve this morning may have refreshed the company’s coffers, but the firm remains parched of funding for its future ambitions.