FTSE 100 close: Stress over US debt ceiling talks drag London index as IMF ditches UK recession forecast May 23, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 nipped lower today as investors zeroed in on the latest developments in talks between Republicans and Democrats about raising the debt ceiling. The capital’s premier index slipped 0.1 per cent to 7,762.96 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dipped [...]
Tesco boss John Allan quits: Britain’s biggest supermarket concerned behaviour claims are ‘distraction’ May 19, 2023 John Allan, the chair of Tesco, will quit his role fearing accusations about his behaviour are becoming a “distraction”. The former president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which has been embroiled in serious accusations of sexual misconduct including rape, will step aside from Britain’s biggest supermarket. In a trading update late on Friday [...]
Consumer confidence continues to recover as double-digit inflation fails to deter Brits from splashing cash May 19, 2023 Consumer confidence in the year ahead is continuing to recover despite persistent cost-of-living pressures, a long-running survey suggests. GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by three points in May to minus 27, the fourth monthly increase in a row from January’s minus 45. Confidence in personal finances over the coming 12 months saw a “robust” five-point [...]
Mark Kleinman’s must-read column: Apollo, Ofgem and Hargreaves Lansdown May 18, 2023 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ Business Editor and writes a must-read column for City A.M. on the biggest business stories of the week Apollo’s failed missions will make take-private landings harder Apollo and ground-breaking missions of accomplishment have long been synonymous. Right now, for the US-based investment firm of the same name, simply getting the [...]
Treasury Committee’s call for digital assets to be regulated same way as gambling industry is slammed by crypto leaders May 17, 2023 Crypto leaders in the UK have branded a government body’s calls for unbacked digital assets to be regulated in the same way as the gambling industry as 'an appalling backwards step'.
Bank of England ditches any threat of recession in biggest GDP upgrade since 1997 independence May 11, 2023 Any threat of a recession in Britain this year and over the medium term has today been scrapped by the Bank of England in what was the largest upgrade to the central bank’s GDP projections since it was made independent in 1997. The UK economy is now tipped to broadly flatline this year and start [...]
Why you should never, ever bet against UK house prices May 9, 2023 Remember the start of the year? “UK house prices have gone into sharp reverse over recent months. And we expect that elevated mortgage rates will result in at least a 12 per cent price correction,” so said Capital Economics at the time. This is from building society Nationwide last week: “While annual house price growth [...]
London cabbies’ green ambitions slowed by poor EV charging set-up, warn taxi firms May 8, 2023 Taxi firms have called for more action from government and City Hall to address failures in London’s EV charging infrastructure, which they argue is slowing the transition to electric fleets. “There’s work to be done on infrastructure,” Liam Griffin, CEO of Addison Lee, told City A.M. “When we signed up to this, there were all [...]
Local elections analysis: Do results suggest fear of complacency was misplaced? May 5, 2023 Poll leads can be a tricky thing for opposition parties, as Labour has shown in recent weeks. Lean in too far and risk appearing complacent. But downplay it too much, and you could fail to capitalise on a popularity boost. What everyone – from activists to frontbenchers – really want is cold, hard evidence of [...]
Coronation and your cash: How much have prices – and life in the UK – changed since 1953? May 5, 2023 When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned 70 years ago in 1953, the price of a pint was less than 10p, the average house price was around £1,800, and the average salary was £10 a week. But that’s not all that has changed, this year’s Coronation of King Charles III takes place in a nation where life [...]