UK house prices grow at strongest pace in four years December 7, 2020 UK house prices soared by 7.6 per cent in the year to November, according to the latest figures from Halifax, as buyers sought more space and tried to beat the end of the stamp duty holiday. House prices rose 1.2 per cent month on month and 7.6 per cent year on year to hit an [...]
Berkeley Group’s belief in London is ‘resolute’ despite pandemic hit December 4, 2020 Berkeley Group has reaffirmed its commitment to London even as its profits took a hit from pandemic uncertainty. Chief executive Rob Perrins said the company’s “belief in London and our developmetn approach is resolute” as it reported its interim results. The company has acquired three sites in London this year – Borough Triangle in Southwark, [...]
Supermarket heavyweights the Co-op and Waitrose face mounting pressure to return business rates relief December 4, 2020 High street titans the Co-op Group and Waitrose are facing mounting pressure to follow their peers and hand back millions of pounds of business rates relief dished out to keep the companies afloat during the pandemic. The Co-op is facing growing disquiet from members after refusing to emulate rivals Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, [...]
Economics lessons from history: Don’t expect a post-Covid boom December 2, 2020 Just over 200 years ago, the finances of the British government looked even more parlous than they do today. Since the mid-1790s, the country had been engaged in a titanic struggle with Napoleon’s France. To pay for the conflict, the government had borrowed on a massive scale. The cumulative financial deficit — the difference between [...]
US stocks hit all-time high but FTSE 100 lags November 27, 2020 US stock markets hit fresh all-time highs despite the thin post-thanksgiving trading, while the FTSE 100 lagged behind amid worries about Brexit and the economy. Wall Street’s S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent in the early part of the session. The Dow Jones climbed 0.2 per cent while the Nasdaq jumped 0.9 per cent. All [...]
Six ways to reduce job search stress this winter November 27, 2020 The pandemic, rising unemployment levels, a teetering economy and the current lockdown across England — all this has created the perfect storm for stress levels. The spring and summer months saw sharp increases in the proportion of people struggling with stress, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. In fact, nearly half (49.6 [...]
FTSE 100 declines after Tier 2 announcements and dismal economic data from Sunak November 26, 2020 The FTSE 100 slipped as investors digested the dire economic outlook offered by chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday and the new Tier 2 restrictions for London, putting an end to the recent vaccine-driven rally. London’s main stock index fell 0.46 per cent, taking it down to 6,361 points. It followed a fall of around 0.6 per [...]
Coronavirus set to be ‘way less’ damaging than 2008 crash: IFS November 26, 2020 The hit to the UK economy from the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be “way less” than the impact of the financial crisis should the budget watchdog’s predictions come true, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank has said. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) yesterday said the economy would likely end up three [...]
NHS Test and Trace missed almost 140,000 Covid contacts last week November 26, 2020 England’s beleaguered Test and Trace system failed to reach 40 per cent of people who came into contact with coronavirus last week, meaning almost 140,000 people required to self-isolate did not do so. Figures released today by the Department for Health and Social Care showed that NHS Test and Trace only managed to tell 60.3 [...]
London Tier 2: City leaders breathe ‘sigh of relief’ but push for return to the office November 26, 2020 City leaders have welcomed the announcement that London will be placed into Tier 2 when lockdown lifts, but warned that the capital will only fully recover when the government outlines a clear policy on returning to work. Health secretary Matt Hancock today said London will join regions such as Liverpool and Suffolk on “high” alert [...]