Budget Britain: Inflation forces families to trade down and opt for staycations June 28, 2023 Britons are trading down to cheaper products and are opting to holiday at home in response to rampant inflation and higher interest rates squeezing their budgets, new research out today shows. Some 40 per cent of families have been buying more value or own brand products in 2023, according to analysis from consultancy KPMG. The [...]
KPMG: Generative AI could spur £31bn increase in UK productivity June 27, 2023 The UK’s battered economy could get a much-needed £31bn boost from the widespread adoption of generative AI, a new KPMG report has found. According to the ‘Big Four’ firm, generative AI has the potential to increase UK productivity by 1.2 per cent, the equivalent of an extra output of £31bn a year in the UK [...]
Bank of England and Rishi Sunak fail to win over investors on inflation fight June 27, 2023 Investors are sweating over Britain’s inflation problem running out of control and the Bank of England being unable to solve it any time soon, exclusive research for City A.M. has revealed. More than a year of raging prices has eroded confidence in policymakers’ ability to ease the cost of living crisis. Some 56 per cent [...]
KPMG to cut five per cent of US jobs as demand slows June 26, 2023 Big four accountancy KPMG tonight announced a fresh round of layoffs, with plans to cut five per cent of its US workforce. In an internal message seen by City A.M., US chair and CEO Paul Knopp KPMG said: “We do not make the decision lightly. However, we believe it is in the best long-term interest [...]
China and India fuel record high coal prices despite falling US and EU usage June 26, 2023 Coal prices climbed to record levels last year driven by rising demand across Asia, according to a new report on global energy trends.
Credit fears send bank shares lower after Bank of England lifts rates by 50bps June 22, 2023 Shares in the UK’s biggest banks today fell after the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, heaping more pain onto borrowers. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee reverted to a larger rate hike after inflation remained stuck at 8.7 per cent last month. It was the 13th rate hike in a row [...]
Does raising interest rates actually bring down inflation? June 22, 2023 Britain’s inflation problem is looking much harder to solve than first thought. Numbers out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday revealed the rate of price increases was unchanged in May at 8.7 per cent. The City thought it would slim to 8.4 per cent. Core inflation – the best barometer of underlying price [...]
UK inflation smashes forecasts again raising chances of larger Bank of England interest rate hike June 21, 2023 UK inflation is still outpacing experts’ predictions and is running at a level that could lure the Bank of England into an outsized interest rate hike tomorrow, heaping more pain on families and businesses. Official figures out this morning from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the rate of price hikes held steady at [...]
Sadiq Khan to address ‘cost of doing business’ crisis at summit with Uber and Natwest June 20, 2023 Sadiq Khan is set to address the “cost of doing business crisis” at a crunch summit with firms including Uber, Natwest and KPMG. The mayor of London will welcome more than 200 CEOs to his annual City Hall business reception at the Crystal in east London today. He is expected to tell firms the “cost-of-doing-business [...]
Digital stores predicted to appear on the high street as automation threatens retail jobs June 19, 2023 Large e-commerce stores are likely to crop up as physical stores across the UK high street in the next five to ten years, according to predictions aided by AI. Money saving website Savoo used AI to visualise the future of the British high street and it suggested more than 11,000 chain stores would disappear by [...]