Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget: A quick overview of what has been announced October 27, 2021 Downing in numbers and announcements? No worries, here are the main points from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget. – The Budget is focused on the “post-Covid” era, according to the Chancellor, and will pave the way for the “Prime Minister’s economy of higher wages, higher skills, and rising productivity”. – Independent forecaster the Office for Budget [...]
How’s vaccine inequality driving up global inflation? October 27, 2021 As the more highly vaccinated countries roll out Covid booster shots, other parts of the world are still struggling to get their first jab. The vaccine divide is more apparent in the emerging markets (EM). World organisations have voiced their concerns over “vaccine nationalism” whereby vaccine-exporting countries prioritise supply first for their own populations before [...]
Q&A: why are so many investors still ignoring the UK stock market? October 27, 2021 Q: Are UK shares cheap because they’re “old economy” businesses in the banking, oil and tobacco sectors? Bill Casey: When we speak to management teams of UK-listed businesses, many are pulling their hair out, complaining their shares are lowly “rated” compared to US and European-listed peers. They run good quality businesses which we don’t think have [...]
Top 10 most shorted UK stocks: Ailing Cineworld tops the list once more October 27, 2021 Cineworld, Metro Bank and Sainsbury’s are among the UK’s most shorted stocks, new analysis has revealed, as rising interest rates couple with a slower Covid recovery in some footfall-reliant sectors. The most-shorted company is Cineworld, which has had a rough ride during the pandemic after it was forced to close it 9,518 cinema screens during [...]
Ikea snaps up former Topshop Oxford St flagship for £378m October 26, 2021 IKEA has bought the former Topshop flagship store for £378m on Oxford St. The 214 Oxford St store was formerly owned by Arcadia, before the demise of fashion brands Topshop and Topman. Now, the Swedish-origin furniture giant is set to open up in autumn 2023, after the site was bought by Ingka Investments, the investment [...]
Drift to office slows as workers put off by Covid concerns October 26, 2021 A return to the office has appeared to have stalled as London’s office hubs marked a drop in footfall last week. Retail experts Springboard found that footfall declined by 4.2 per cent in areas in central London dominated by offices in the week beginning October 17. The ‘Back to the Office’ benchmark metric suggests that [...]
Ocado turns to robots for delivery of groceries to Londoners amid shortage of workers October 26, 2021 Built by UK online supermarket pioneer Ocado, the washing-machine sized bots have caught the eye of international retailers battling a shortage of workers and rising wage demands. Watch the full report.
If Sunak’s budget delivers for financial services, they can deliver for the globe October 26, 2021 At Conservative party conference, the Chancellor promised to deliver an economy based on “good work, better skills and higher wages” and embrace “the agility, flexibility and freedom provided by Brexit”. This will create a dynamic, high-tech economy. Financial services are critical to delivering this ambition. The engine of the UK economy has not only withstood [...]
UK petrol prices reach record highs October 25, 2021 Petrol prices soared to an all-time high on Sunday, reaching 142.94p a litre. The new record is 28p a litre higher than a year ago, when petrol cost about 114.5p. Motoring group RAC has described the outcome as a “dark day for drivers.” The rebound has seen prices rise from pandemic lows of 106.48p in [...]
South Western Railway won’t restore pre-pandemic rail service in ‘attack’ on business October 21, 2021 South Western Railway (SWR) will not restore its London rail services to pre-pandemic levels next year in a move that has been labelled as “an attack” on central London’s economic recovery. Figures, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, show SWR will cut their services across South West London from December 2022, compared to pre-pandemic levels, by [...]