Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: The best places to avoid Dry January January 16, 2025 Every January, I hang my head in shame. As a business leader who has spent almost three decades championing the finest beverages and hospitality, I must admit I am in no small part responsible for the abomination which is Seedlip, the crown jewel of the no alcohol movement, forced down your throat each “Dry January”. [...]
Pressure on Reeves after more sluggish growth – but it’s not all doom and gloom January 16, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ handling of the UK economy is likely to come under further scrutiny after the publication of another set of lacklustre GDP figures. The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of last year. It is now on track to be stagnant in the second half, having grown [...]
Rachel Reeves – “Gilty” as charged January 16, 2025 The verdict is in. The Gilt market has found the Chancellor Rachel Reeves guilty of reckless endangerment of the country’s finances. A large electoral majority led her to think the world would happily finance what she described in her Mais Lecture as the “smart and strategic state”. Sticking to fiscal rules is for nought if [...]
Young’s: Pub chain in ‘great shape’ after Christmas despite Budget burden January 16, 2025 Young & Co have reported an excellent Christmas trading period, with optimism abound despite a higher cost burden for the hospitality sector this year. The pubs-and-rooms operator, which has around 228 pubs and 5,600 employees, said that revenue in the five weeks to January 13 rose 30.4 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 11.6 per [...]
Freetrade: IG Group swoops for trading app January 16, 2025 IG Group has acquired stock trading app Freetrade for £160m, as the FTSE 250 firm looks to target a new UK audience of traders. The trading platform, along with its 720,000 customers and £2.5bn in assets, will move to IG Group in mid-2025, subject to regulatory approval, the firm said in a stock exchange notice [...]
Robot hoovers on the menu as Premier Inn owner counts cost of Budget January 16, 2025 Whitbread, the hospitality chain which owns Premier Inn, could see UK costs increase by more than £100m following the Autumn Budget. In a statement on the London Stock Exchange, the firm warned of gross UK cost inflation of between five and six per cent on a £1.7bn cost base, when factoring in the impact of [...]
Trustpilot: UK and US bookings surge helps revenue jump as shares spike January 16, 2025 Surge in bookings in North America and the UK helped lead a jump in revenue at Trustpilot during its latest financial year. The FTSE 250 company has revealed it expects to report a revenue from bookings of $239m (£195.7m) for the 12 months, up from the $195m it achieved in the prior year. Trustpilot’s annual [...]
UK economy grows just 0.1 per cent following Budget January 16, 2025 Economic momentum has ground to a halt since Labour took office while business confidence has also fallen sharply, particularly in the wake of October's Budget.
Vacancies back to pre-pandemic levels as UK jobs market slows January 16, 2025 The number of vacancies in the UK economy has fallen back in line with pre-pandemic levels, according to new figures from the REC.
How ‘twin deficits’ have fuelled turmoil in the gilt market January 16, 2025 The sell-off eased slightly on Wednesday following positive inflation figures, but yields remain well ahead of where they were just a few weeks ago.