EXCL – Sunak should lower national insurance in 2023, argues jobs chief December 28, 2022 With inflation having reached a 40-year high this year and the economy predicted to shrink in 2023, City A.M. zooms in on the volatile, hyperactive UK jobs market by checking in with Paul Farrer, the CEO and founder of London-based recruitment giant Aspire. Sitting down with this paper today, Farrer calls on the new Prime [...]
Number of takeovers and mergers halved in 2022 but ‘bargain basement prices’ to turn tide in 2023 December 27, 2022 The number of big takeovers and mergers involving UK-listed companies nearly halved this year as investors were deterred by market volatility, political instability and recession fears. But the tide is set to turn in 2023, with buyers eyeing up quality British companies trading at “bargain prices”, experts said. There were 49 bids for London-listed firms [...]
Who’s winning the City’s talent war? The firms that paid the most in 2022 December 24, 2022 Where to find the best paid job? As strikes over pay have brought the country to a halt, it is notable that workers in one sector in particular have seen their pay packets bulge in 2022. Aside from criminal barristers, who carried out a month’s long strike this summer, those working in private sector legal [...]
Rishi Sunak to Keir Starmer: Five bold predictions for British politics in 2023 December 24, 2022 If a week is a long time in politics, as Harold Wilson once said, then what on earth was 2022? Rishi Sunak started the year as Chancellor, spent a strange summer on the backbenches, and returned to Downing Street with the top job by Christmas. In an exhausting and traumatic 12 months the UK witnessed [...]
2022: The year the UK economy soured December 23, 2022 Let’s not forget that inflation was already a problem heading into 2022. The final inflation reading of 2021 was for November and came in at 5.1 per cent, nearly three times higher than the Bank of England’s two per cent target and the highest level since September 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics [...]
London flexible office occupancy rates recover to pre-pandemic levels December 22, 2022 Flexible office spaces in central London have seen their occupancy rates recover to pre-pandemic levels, new data shows. A majority (86 per cent) of the world’s top 30 flexible workspace providers have seen now seen occupancy rates in their central London offices surpass levels of 60 per cent, a survey by Knight Frank shows. A [...]
Private sector activity declines for fifth consecutive quarter and outlook is bleak December 22, 2022 The private sector’s decline has continued for the fifth consecutive quarter, and outlook is bleak with it expected to fall even faster in the next three months. New figures from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed activity fell 13 per cent in the three months to December. This is a decline at a faster [...]
Half of UK firms find trading with EU difficult post-Brexit, says new survey December 21, 2022 More than half of UK businesses who trade overseas are finding it difficult to trade goods with the EU post-Brexit, according to a new survey. A new poll from the British Chambers of Commerce found that 56 per cent of firms “face difficulties adapting to the new rules for trading goods” with the EU and [...]
Campaigners warn hiking rail fares could push people away from train travel December 21, 2022 Even a below inflation increase in rail fares could put people off travelling by train altogether, according to campaigners. Norman Baker, director of external affairs at advocacy group Campaign for Better Transport, told City A.M. that any increase to ticket prices will come “as a further blow to long-suffering passengers” after months “of cancellations and [...]
Hopes of Christmas spending splurge nudges UK business confidence higher December 21, 2022 UK businesses are hoping the Christmas spending splurge will give them a welcome boost before a long recession sets in, a new survey out today shows. According to Lloyds Bank’s business barometer index, every UK region notched a positive business confidence reading for the first time since July. Eight out of the 11 areas recorded [...]