FTSE 100 close: Anglo American and Antofagasta receive China boost but Barratt drops after house price slide March 1, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 sprung higher today, propelled by investors piling into commodity giants after a batch of better than expected data indicated the Chinese economy is on the mend. The capital’s premier index flung 0.49 per cent higher to back above the 7,900 point mark, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more [...]
Explainer: England’s homelessness crisis is at the worst it’s been in years March 1, 2023 The number of people sleeping rough over the last year has increased in every single region in England – with the biggest increase in London. In 2022, the number of people sleeping rough was up 26 per cent compared to the previous year. In London, the numbers are up 34 per cent. This is the [...]
Cost of living crisis has forced families to take on £1.1bn debt and dig into savings, says Bank of England March 1, 2023 Families are saving far less than they did over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and maxing on credit cards to maintain spending amid the cost of living crisis, official figures have revealed. Brits set aside £3.5bn in January in savings accounts, a slight increase from December, but below the pre-pandemic monthly average increase of [...]
House price growth plummets to lowest level in a decade as confidence and costs see off buyers March 1, 2023 House price growth has plummeted to its lowest in more than a decade as a cocktail of high borrowing costs, inflation and low confidence has deterred buyers. Properties dropped in value by -1.1 per cent year on year in February, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index, down from 1.1 per cent the previous month. This [...]
Pressure rises on government to ramp up insulation of UK homes amid fuel poverty worries March 1, 2023 It will take 300 years for the government to meet its end-of-decade energy efficiency targets for British homes, warned NEA.
Lack of government strategy putting UK decarbonisation goals at risk, NAO warns March 1, 2023 The government lacks a plan for all electricity to be generated through clean energy sources by 2035, warned the National Audit Office.
Food inflation reaches 14.5 per cent and looks set to remain high, new data reveals March 1, 2023 Food inflation reached a staggering new high of 14.5 per cent in February, according to new data, with retail groups predicting that prices will continue to rise over the coming months. While inflation more broadly has started to come down, food inflation soared to 14.5 per cent in February, up from 13.8 per cent the [...]
Our regulators are too close to those they should be regulating – and this is a problem March 1, 2023 Political parties of all colours have been lauding our regulators as "world class". Unfortunately, our regulatory bodies actually have a quite problematic record of failures, writes Paul Ormerod
Kop of living crisis: Soaring bills hit Liverpool’s bottom line February 28, 2023 It seems that even the world’s richest football clubs are not immune to the cost of living crisis after soaring bills put a dent in Liverpool’s profits. The Premier League club achieved record revenues of £594m last season but turned a pre-tax profit of just £7.5m following a steep rise in matchday overheads. The return [...]
Ocado not for you: Three reasons why online grocer’s results may not be as bad as they seem February 28, 2023 Ocado’s crown as the online food retailer which keeps the middle classes stocked in organic essentials has been threatening to slip for a while now. As one of the companies which sits at the ‘higher-end’ of the online supermarket price point the rising cost of living, not to mention higher mortgage interest rates, was expected [...]