Why is the UK economy poised to tumble into a recession and fall behind Europe, US and even Russia? February 16, 2023 Britain avoided a much-tipped recession at the end of last year. Phew. “However, we are not out of the woods yet,” warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt after last Friday’s GDP figures from the ONS revealed the economy stagnated at the end of 2022, meaning it narrowly avoided the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of [...]
Up and Atom: How the Durham-based digital bank is taking on the high street stalwarts February 16, 2023 Lending, according to Atom Bank boss Mark Mullen, is back in vogue. While it’s a view that might run counter to some of the political disquiet towards Britain’s big high street lenders, for Durham-based digital lender Atom, it’s hard to argue with. The firm has tempted in hordes of customers this year and is on [...]
FTSE 100 close: London index breaches 8,000 mark for first time ever despite Barclays tumbling February 15, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 today breached the 8,000 point mark for the first time ever despite Britain’s biggest banks tanking after Barclays posted a big profits drop. Today’s move higher crystalises the premier index’s bullish start to 2023 that has seen it surged more than seven per cent. The new year rally builds on advances that [...]
Barclays shares slump to bottom of FTSE 100 as investors take fright at profit drop February 15, 2023 Barclays shares tanked nearly eight per cent today, sending them to the bottom London’s FTSE 100 index, driven by investors fretting over the bank announcing today weaker than expected profits. The firm’s profit in the three months to December last year fell eight per cent to £1.3bn despite a £800m revenue bump, taking the lender’s [...]
Are house prices really going up? London had lowest change across UK with average in capital now £543,000 February 15, 2023 The average UK house price ended last year £26,000 higher than when 2022 started, although the annual pace of growth in property values is slowing. Property values increased by 9.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022, which was weaker than the 10.6 per cent annual growth recorded the previous month. London’s average [...]
UK inflation drops for third straight month in sign Bank of England is nearing end of interest rate hikes February 15, 2023 Inflation in the UK is falling faster than experts expected which may convince the Bank of England to consider ending its aggressive campaign to tame prices with interest rate rises, official figures out today reveal. The rate of price increases in Britain dropped to 10.1 per cent last month, down from 10.5 per cent in [...]
Castore co-founder Tom Beahon on shelving IPO plans, bucking the Brexit trend by expanding in Europe, and the Andy Murray-backed sports brand’s first shoe launch February 15, 2023 At a time when Brexit has caused some British businesses to retreat from Europe, fast-growing premium sportswear brand Castore is eager to buck the trend. The company, founded by former City boys Tom and Phil Beahon and which counts Andy Murray among its investors, has opened a distribution centre in the Netherlands and is increasingly [...]
US inflation eases for seventh straight month but pace of decline loses momentum in headache for Fed February 14, 2023 US inflation eased for the seventh month in a row in January, but the pace of decline is beginning to level off, official figures out today reveal. The pace of price increases in the world’s largest economy on an annual basis fell to 6.4 per cent, down from 6.5 per cent, according to the US [...]
Leap in business insolvencies as ‘tough start’ to 2023 leads to 52 per cent surge in compulsory liquidations February 14, 2023 Corporate insolvencies rose seven per cent year-on-year in January 2023 with the number of compulsory liquidations up over 50 per cent, according to figures released today. The Insolvency Service said 1,671 companies went insolvent in January 2023, a seven per cent rise on the same month the previous year and 11 per cent when compared [...]
Inflation erodes UK real pay rapidly despite record wage increases as 137,000 Brits return to workforce February 14, 2023 UK take home pay is falling at one of the fastest paces since records began over two decades ago despite wage growth racing ahead at the quickest rate outside the pandemic, official figures out today reveal. Real pay fell 4.3 per cent over the three months to December last year when using the consumer price [...]