Editorial: Shocks happen – and our institutions weren’t ready for this one March 10, 2022 And Rishi Sunak thought the hard bit was over. Wearing the scars of a two-year fight against a global pandemic, he may have thought he’d have some respite to get the public finances in order in time for some pre-election giveaways. That increasingly looks a long prospect. It may feel glib to discuss such matters [...]
Wages continue to surge amid tightening jobs market March 10, 2022 Strong competition for workers amid a tight jobs market is accelerating starting pay at near record highs, reveals a fresh survey published today. A shortage of available workers is driving businesses to hike pay to out muscle competitors from poaching top talent, according to research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG. Starting [...]
Celebrating International Women’s Day – With Wine March 9, 2022 This week was International Women’s Day and it is fitting for me to celebrate this through wine. When drinking, women choose wine nearly twice as often as men but the industry itself is still largely a man’s game. Speaking to some women who have worked in wine for up to 40 years, it is clear [...]
The City View: Energy market volatility March 9, 2022 Today Andy Silvester chats to City A.M. reporters Jack Barnett and Nicholas Earl about volatile energy prices potentially becoming even more so; inflation forecasts, rising consumer prices and what the Bank of England will do vis-à-vis rate hikes; and yesterday’s nickel big short and its impact on the London Metal Exchange. Andy also goes through [...]
How stock markets perform after heavy falls March 9, 2022 While public attention has understandably focused on the grave humanitarian consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, global markets have reflected investors’ concerns about financial and economic impacts. Our live blog on the Ukraine crisis will be updated regularly throughout the week, it can be found here. To date the current crisis has seen major markets fall [...]
Nearly half of all Brits fear inflation may rise more than Bank of England prediction March 9, 2022 About two-fifths of people polled recently have a more pessimistic view about rising inflation than the Bank of England, it has been revealed. Despite the Bank’s prediction of a seven per cent spike in Spring, 39 per cent of respondents to a survey by HR software provider CIPHR thought it would be eight percent or [...]
Inflation to accelerate far ahead of Bank of England’s target as rate hikes loom March 8, 2022 Inflation in the UK will soar far above the Bank of England’s target this year as the Russia-Ukraine war drives energy prices to record highs. Accelerating prices will hit “almost all businesses and consumers” this year and choke economic growth, Thomas Pugh, an economist at RSM, warned today, adding that the cost of living could [...]
The City View: US and UK boycott Russian oil, and Susannah Streeter and Michael Hewson on inflationary pressure March 8, 2022 Today Andy Silvester sits down for a chat with Hargreaves Lansdowns’ Susannah Streeter and CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson. They discuss trading being suspended on the London Metal Exchange after a record price spike in nickel; the Bank of England assessing inflationary pressures; and a whole mélange of financial woes for Brits as energy bills, taxes, [...]
Value of mortgage advances tops £70bn as real estate experts say market is cooling off March 8, 2022 Real estate experts have said the latest mortgage lenders statistics show a market cooling off from its earlier frenzy. In figures published by the Bank of England on Tuesday, the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,613.4bn at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. This was 4.7 per cent higher than [...]
As inflation bites, Britain’s roadmap for start-up success needs to be kept up to date March 8, 2022 The rise in living costs over the next 12 months is set to be the highest in 30 years as inflation sets in. The UK’s Consumer Prices Index puts the inflation rate at 5.5 per cent, with some economists predicting this figure will rise close to 8 per cent by April. The Bank of England [...]