Big tech’s year of rough seas has taught us a lesson in naming winners and losers December 16, 2022 IF 2022 has taught us anything, it has shown us how there are no clear business winners or losers from the pandemic. The rough year for big tech is a case in point. Although many of the Faang (Meta neé Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet) cashed in on the various lockdowns, this year has [...]
Letters: A whole new world of forex December 16, 2022 [Re: UK banks face wave of ‘exotic’ forex derivatives claims after collapse of Pound, yesterday] Businesses, which were scrambling to protect their bottom lines against the dollar’s record highs and the euro, pound and yen’s record lows, have been let down by traditional banks. This “wave” of “exotic” forex derivatives highlights that despite fierce fintech [...]
City chamber of commerce launched to help Square Mile firms navigate challenges December 15, 2022 The City’s chamber of commerce has launched a new body dedicated to supporting business within the Square Mile. London Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the creation of the City of London Chamber this week. It will be a forum for firms of all sectors to convene and and discuss ideas, from the biggest banks [...]
Bank of England sends interest rates to 14-year high but slows hike cycle to 50 points December 15, 2022 The Bank of England today sent interest rates to their highest level since October 2008, although it slowed the pace of increases to avoid unnecessarily intensifying a looming recession by squeezing households and businesses’ finances. Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 6-3 in favour of a 50 basis point rise to 3.5 per cent, [...]
OEUK hires industry veteran David Whitehouse as new chief executive December 15, 2022 Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has named industry veteran David Whitehouse as its new chief executive.
London is triumphing over its reputation as the weird cousin of US tech successes December 15, 2022 Next year will mark twenty-five years since the dot.com boom that took place between 1998 and 2001. It was a time of huge creativity. Capital, talent and enthusiasm flowed into new ideas and young start-ups. What can London in 2023 learn from those heady days? We were there in 1998 with the lofty ambition of [...]
Ofwat hikes water bills for businesses December 15, 2022 Business customers face a 6.4 per cent hike to their dual water and wastewater bills, confirmed watchdog Ofwat
Let’s be honest, we’re still squandering post-Brexit opportunities for Britain December 15, 2022 Is Brexit a proven failure? Remainers latching onto the associated costs of leaving the customs bloc certainly think so. Some recent polls even indicate a majority for rejoining the European Union. Meanwhile, evidence of the benefits of taking back control appears scant. The government delivered a faster vaccine programme, signed trade deals and talked the [...]
UK must bridge ‘valley of death’ for homegrown science and innovation December 15, 2022 The UK must bridge the ‘valley of death’ in which prize-winning British innovation falls and fails to be commercialised. The Global Britain Commission said in a report today that the UK government should match Germany’s Fraunhofer programme, which helps businesses turn their research into marketable intellectual property. Britain’s fiscal support of research and development (R&D) [...]
US Federal Reserve ushers in global rate hike slow down with 50 point rise December 14, 2022 The US Federal Reserve has tamed the pace of its aggressive interest rate hike campaign tonight, but signalled borrowing costs will eventually peak much higher than previously expected. Chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee (FOMC) backed a 50 basis point rise in the world’s most important interest rate, climbing [...]