Rush to beat stamp duty deadline drives mortgage borrowing to record high July 29, 2021 A rush to complete house purchases before the tapering of the stamp duty holiday at the end of June drove mortgage borrowing to a record monthly high, reveal new figures published today. The Bank of England said mortgage borrowing hit £17.9bn in June, surging 163 per cent in just a month from £6.8bn in May. [...]
Khan: ‘Pingdemic’ places business recovery ‘in jeopardy’ July 24, 2021 Sadiq Khan has today written to Boris Johnson to urge him allow fully vaccinated people to return to work immediately after a negative Covid-19 test if they are ‘pinged’ by the NHS’ app. From 16 August, double jabbed people will no longer have to isolate if they have been in close contact with someone who [...]
UK’s first fossil-fuel-free development to be built on London’s South Bank July 23, 2021 The UK’s first fossil-fuel-free major property development is set to be built in London and will be worth some £2.5bn. The new South Bank neighbourhood, by property developer Native Land, will see the 1.4m sq ft space known as Bankside Yards be built with zero emissions in operation. It includes more than 350,000 sq ft [...]
Indian food delivery app Zomato surges 80 per cent on IPO July 23, 2021 Indian food delivery startup Zomato skyrocketed as much as 80 per cent on its stock market debut today, setting the pace for a string of upcoming listings in the country. Shares in Zomato, which is backed by Ant Group, surged as high as 138.9 rupees each, giving the company a market capitalisation of $12bn. It [...]
London dominates hiring hotspots in the UK July 23, 2021 Six of the UK’s top ten hiring hotspots are in London showing that the capital’s jobs market is roaring back to life, according to new research published today. Figures from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows Brent has the fastest rate of job posting growth in the UK, rising 3.7 per cent to 4,616 over [...]
Charity, dating and pet spending rises as restrictions relax July 22, 2021 As Covid restrictions continue to ease, Britons spend more on charity, dating and their pets. Building society Nationwide said today that spending also surged on holidays, among many other activities, between April to June, as well as eating and drinking, leisure, gardening and clothing. Nationwide analysed millions of transactions by its customers from April to [...]
‘I told staff to delete the app’: Hospitality reacts to pingdemic crisis July 20, 2021 While the government was hailing the arrival of so-called “freedom day” yesterday, the threat of rising Covid cases and the “pingdemic” forcing staff to self isolate has left the beleaguered hospitality industry with little to celebrate. One restaurateur told City A.M: “Our ability to operate hangs in the balance by some fairly crude geolocation tech”, [...]
Fizzy mixer brand Fever-Tree sees European revenues surge as holiday spots bolster stocks July 20, 2021 Fever-Tree has seen its European revenues surge outside of the UK as hospitality destinations bolstered stock in anticipation of summer holiday goers. However, ongoing travel confusion and ‘Freedom Day’ fears may have knocked investors faith – as it saw its shares plummet 7.10 per cent this afternoon, dragging its total share price to 2,276. The [...]
“E-commerce winner” Virgin Wines confident in post-pandemic sales July 20, 2021 Wine subscription service Virgin Wines raised its annual financial forecasts as a result of strong customer demand, it told markets this morning. Their customer base grew by 24 per cent in the previous 12 months. The pandemic saw people at home stock their bars and fridges causing increased demand in alcoholic products over lockdowns, as [...]
Exclusive: ‘Pull the plug on test and trace and delete the app’, says Pimlico Plumbers chief Charlie Mullins July 16, 2021 This week, more than half a million people were pinged by the NHS Test and Trace app, the highest figures ever. A total of 520,194 notifications were sent out, informing the app’s users that they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus. People must isolate for 10 days, leading [...]