Marks & Spencer’s CFO urges Chancellor Rishi Sunak to firmly reject online sales tax May 19, 2022 Marks and Spencer has reportedly warned the Government that an online sales tax would do more harm than good for the high street. In February, the Government launched a consultation into possibilities for an online sales tax to ease the business rates burden on high street stores. In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, reportedly [...]
National Grid posts £4bn profit amid soaring electricity and gas prices May 19, 2022 National Grid announced operating profit was up 11 per cent to £4bn as the firm continues to invest in its energy transition.
Elon Musk slams rating agency after Tesla removed from ESG index May 18, 2022 Elon Musk has accused a rating agency of being “phony social justice warriors” after it removed Tesla from its ethical investing index. The S&P rating agency booted the EV giant from its ESG index on Tuesday, citing racism accusations at one of the factories and Tesla’s software malfunctions as the main reasons. The serial entrepreneur [...]
Social animals: Marston’s boss insists Brits’ thirst for the pub will not dry up despite historic inflation May 18, 2022 Brits will continue to be “social animals” at the pub, despite inflation hitting a 40-year high, the boss of Marston’s has said. “Having been locked up for two-three years, we are even more social animals,” Andrew Andrea insisted. The pub boss was optimistic that, despite increasing cost of living concerns, punters would continue to knock [...]
Windfall tax would jeopardise North Sea investments argues UK’s offshore energy body May 18, 2022 The UK's leading offshore energy body has warned Kwasi Kwarteng that a windfall tax could undermine stability in the oil and gas sector.
British factories’ costs climb at record pace in sign of even higher consumer prices to come May 18, 2022 Prices for materials used by British factories are rising at the quickest pace on record in a sign firms may be pushed to keep passing on costs to consumers, official figures published today revealed. The cost of buying components such as fuels used for the day to day running of manufacturing firms jumped 18.6 per [...]
Ninety One reports record profits after £5bn inflows May 18, 2022 London-listed asset manager Ninety One reported record profits today after notching up £5bn inflows in the past year, despite a slowdown in the final quarter sparked by soaring inflation and war in Ukraine.
High street bosses plead for crisis cash to help with dramatic energy bill hikes May 18, 2022 High street businesses have called for emergency help over skyrocketing energy bills, as bosses warn a cocktail of cost pressures threaten to subdue their pandemic recovery. Without government action, historic levels of inflation and dramatic energy bill rises pose a risk to the beauty sector’s recovery, the British Beauty Council has said. The industry group [...]
Andrew Bailey is putting the Bank’s independence at risk if he wavers on inflation May 18, 2022 Andrew Bailey’s ability to steer monetary policy through the inflation crisis will determine the Bank’s future strength
The City View: Michael Hewson on problematic consumer spending growth May 17, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets. They unpick the latest wage and labour figures, analyse Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey’s comments at the Treasury select committee, go through inflation predictions for 2022, and discuss why current consumer spending growth in the US and UK will be problematic [...]