High street weather major shutdown as 10,000 chain outlets disappear in 2021 February 19, 2022 Britain’s high streets saw a major shutdown of chain shops, bank and gyms last year as the pandemic continued to batter the retail and leisure industries, new figures have revealed.
Turn around for Natwest as bank returns to profitability February 18, 2022 Natwest has returned to profitability after suffering heavy losses in 2020, with results boosted by strong savings and lending growth.
The spectre of entrenched inflation will soon hit loss-making start-ups hard February 18, 2022 Larry Summers was Treasury Secretary to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama’s Director of the National Economic Council, and President of Harvard University. When he offers an economic prediction, therefore, he is worth listening to. A recent one was sobering. Summers believes we are entering a period of “higher entrenched inflation”. Make no mistake: inflation is a [...]
IT group AVEVA reports slowdown in revenue as pandemic boom tapers off February 17, 2022 International software group AVEVA announced a slowdown in revenue growth today as the booming demand for software and IT services seen through the pandemic tapers off.
Brits to face permanently higher prices if rising wage and energy bills persist February 17, 2022 Consumers will face permanently higher prices for products if rising wages and energy costs persist, reveals fresh research published today. Services firms are raising prices at the fastest pace on record to alleviate severe margin pressure stemming from rising bills, according to a survey by Lloyds Bank. Soaring staffing and energy bills are sending costs [...]
Brits brace for multi-pronged living standards crunch as inflation hits new 30-year high February 16, 2022 Brits will be hit by a multi-pronged squeeze on their living standards this year, economists are warning after new figures published today revealed inflation has climbed to a fresh 30-year high. A combination of accelerating price rises, tax hikes and higher interest rates will erode Brits’ finances at the worst rate since the late 1940s, [...]
Law firms now more willing to hire less skilled candidates in face of nationwide skills shortage February 16, 2022 Law firms are now increasingly willing to hire candidates that do not have the skills they were looking for, as the battle for talent continues. Three quarters (75 per cent) of law firms said they are now willing to be flexible when it comes to a candidate’s skillset, compared to 57 per cent of financial [...]
Hilton eyes return of business travel as revenue more than doubles thanks to Covid jabs February 16, 2022 The Hilton hotel empire is confident of its continued Covid recovery as it eyes the return of business travel in the coming months. Hilton Worldwide Holdings surpassed analyst’s predictions for quarterly profit and revenue in results today. It posted a 106 per cent rise in fourth-quarter revenue, with $1.84bn, compared with $890m for the previous [...]
The dominance of high street banks is waning as they shun small businesses February 16, 2022 Shortly after the financial crisis in 2008, a wave of new UK challenger banks and fintechs began to emerge. The challenge facing this new breed of business was stark. How could these upstarts challenge the incumbent behemoths without the vast scale, established branch networks and centuries old name recognition held by the high street banks? [...]
Russia to embrace crypto as Fitch downgrades El Salvador, KPMG Canada bets on BTC and ETH February 15, 2022 Data from CryptoCompare shows that the price of Bitcoin started the week at around $42,500 and moved up steadily to the $45,000 mark.