UK hotel insolvencies hit five-year high in 2019 January 6, 2020 UK hotel insolvencies hit their highest levels in five years in 2019, rising 60 per cent year on year to hit 144. According to accountants UHY Hacker Young, the slowing UK economy is to blame for the rise, as businesses have been forced to cut back on conferences and corporate away days, a key source [...]
Almost 3.5m people of working age in the UK have never had a job, study finds January 4, 2020 The number of people aged between 16 and 64 to have never had a paid job has increased by 50 per cent over the last 20 years, according to a new study by think tank Resolution Foundation. It found that 3.4m people in the UK had never had a job, or 8.2 per cent of [...]
Clashes as police try to clear Hong Kong protesters after rally December 22, 2019 Hong Kong riot police pepper sprayed protesters to disperse crowds in the heart of the city’s financial district on Sunday after a largely peaceful rally in support of China’s Uighur ethnic minority turned chaotic. Dozens of police marched across a public square overlooking Hong Kong’s harbour to face off with protesters who hurled glass bottles and rocks at them. [...]
The economics of gift giving: It probably isn’t worth it December 20, 2019 It is Christmastime, which means that on Tuesday I will be frantically rushing around doing some very last-minute shopping and attempting to wrap presents. I have a pretty good idea what I’m going to buy people this year, although my young nieces are proving to be particularly tricky. As I’ve never been a four-year-old girl, [...]
Business can help charities in more ways than just raising funds December 19, 2019 After a Christmas election where all the main parties claimed that they would boost social spending, the season of giving this year has become unusually politically charged. Yet with an estimated 14m people living in poverty in Britain, regardless of which party is currently in power, there will remain a significant role for private philanthropy [...]
Rajasthan Royals: With Stokes, Buttler and Archer on board the franchise are aiming to become the United Kingdom’s go-to Indian Premier League side December 18, 2019 Like every other Indian Premier League side, Rajasthan Royals will take part in an auction on Thursday. The day of chaotic, intense and exciting player recruitment, which starts at 15:30 IST in Kolkata (10am UK time), will shape the season for all of the eight franchises, but looking at the wider picture, Rajasthan already have [...]
Japan – with kids? Believe it or not, it works December 18, 2019 The looks of incomprehension became commonplace, from colleagues, friends, neighbours and, most severely, my mother-in-law. “You’re taking her… to Japan?” they asked, through a variety of similar rhetorical questions. A trip to Japan should surprise no one, these days. The island state is undergoing an eye-watering boom in tourism, with visitor numbers soaring from 13m [...]
Staffline shares plunge as recruiter slashes profit forecasts December 18, 2019 Staffline has announced its finance chief has stepped down as the recruitment firm cut its profit forecasts following a dip in consumer demand. Shares in the company plunged 33 per cent this morning as it revealed that trading performance in the fourth quarter was below the board’s expectations following a slump in demand. Read more: [...]
Despite its sky-high valuation, the Saudi Aramco IPO was no success December 18, 2019 When Saudi Aramco launched its IPO on the Tadawul (the Saudi stock market) earlier this month, it quickly became the world’s most valuable listed company, with a valuation of $1.7 trillion. It is now worth more than the next five largest hydrocarbon companies — ExxonMobil, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP — combined. Yet [...]
A lesson in cognitive dissonance for the Corbynites December 18, 2019 Behavioural economics — which extends the ability of economics to explain the world — has become very fashionable. Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize winner for his work in this area, observed that most of the time, the rational choice model of standard economics works well. People gather information on the various alternatives open to them, and [...]