Regulator calls out Barclays and Santander for breaching retail banking order August 22, 2024 Britain's competition watchdog has rebuked Barclays and Santander UK for breaching parts of its retail banking order.
‘Sticky’ hurdle rates contributing to resilient UK business investment August 22, 2024 Research from the Bank shows that firms' use of 'hurdle rates' might be slowing the impact of higher interest rates.
Growth set to continue as confidence in the economy builds August 22, 2024 A closely watched survey suggests that the UK will continue growing at a robust pace in the second half of the year as confidence in the economy continues to build. S&P’s ‘flash’ purchasing managers’s index (PMI) accelerated to 53.4 in August, up from 52.8 last month and ahead of the 52.9 expected by economists. PMIs, [...]
Fred Perry issues bumper pay day as sales pass milestone August 22, 2024 British sporting and fashion brand Fred Perry has paid out a bumper dividend after its sales jumped past the £150m mark during its latest financial year. Founded by Wimbledon champion Fred Perry in 1952, the company has issued £90m in dividends for 2023 after its turnover totalled £154.1m for the year. The figure comes after [...]
JD Sports: FTSE 100 retailer beats analyst predictions in a ‘volatile’ market August 22, 2024 JD Sports has reported good global sales growth in the second quarter of 2024, smashing analysts’ expectations and leading to the share price rising by over six per cent in early trades. Like-for-like sales at the FTSE 100 firm rose 2.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 August 2024 or 0.7 per cent [...]
AI can jump-start UK productivity – we just need to get over our trust issues August 22, 2024 Artificial intelligence can be the productivity cure it promises to be - but we need a little trust, writes Daniel Pell.
Growth, inheritance tax and Natwest: Five subplots from the latest borrowing figures August 21, 2024 New figures show that the government borrowed more than expected in July as spending on public services increased faster than tax receipts.
Growth in food retail at highest in two years thanks to summer finally arriving August 21, 2024 After a damp start to summer, till sales growth boomed in July to record the strongest growth for food retail in two years. Total till sales at UK supermarkets grew 5.5 per cent in the four weeks ending 10 August 2024, up from 3.6 per cent in the previous month, according to fresh data by NIQ. [...]
Falling number of London taxi drivers leads to LEVC losing more than £100m August 21, 2024 LEVC is attempting to boost its net worth by £100m to combat the falling number of taxi drivers in central London and the expected further decline in its sales this year. The Coventry-headquartered electric taxi maker, which is also known as London EV Company, is in the process of increasing the value of everything a [...]
Costain launches £10m share buyback as profit and backlog jumps August 21, 2024 Engineering firm Costain has kicked off a £10m share buyback after it revealed a set of strong results this morning. In its half-year results, the company revealed that adjusted operating profit had jumped 8.7 per cent to £16.3m, thanks to an increased operating margin at its transportation arm and increased revenue at its natural resources [...]