UK employers cut jobs as tax hikes bite April 15, 2025 High wage growth persisted in the three months to February, official data has shown, but a rapid drop in payrolled employment pointed to concerning trends in the labour market. Annual growth in average weekly earnings excluding bonuses hit 5.9 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday. But separate tax data showed [...]
B&M: Poor UK sales weigh on earnings for bargain retailer April 15, 2025 Discount retailer B&M expects full-year earnings to fall year on year as poor UK sales weigh on overall company performance. However, the company told markets this morning that it expects to report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) above the midpoint of its £605m-£625m guidance range. The firm lowered its expected full-year EBITDA [...]
Finance bosses predict sharpest hiring drop since 2020 after tariff uncertainty April 14, 2025 Finance bosses expect the sharpest decline in corporate hiring since the third quarter of 2020 as geopolitical risks escalate. A fresh report from Deloitte has showed signs of a waning job market with wage growth expect to slow from 3.6 per cent to three per cent. A net 14 per cent of chief financial officers [...]
‘It’s existential’: Unpacking a looming tax scarier than the National Insurance hike April 13, 2025 For William Fugard, chief executive and co-founder of Gusto Organic, headaches caused by issues beyond his control are an occupational hazard. The terms on which the UK decided to leave the European Union meant that – in 2019 – the cost of exporting a pallet of his firm’s premium soft drinks went from £70 to [...]
Trump, tariffs and GDP: How do you forecast uncertainty? April 12, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), one of the UK’s central forecasters, prepared itself for President Trump’s tariff war – or at least partially. At a presentation after Chancellor Reeves’ Spring Statement, OBR chair Richard Hughes admitted the fiscal watchdog’s central forecast risked being completely undermined by global events. Hughes came up with three possible [...]
Could Trump’s tariff war turn crypto into a safe-haven asset? April 11, 2025 As trade tensions reignite under Trump’s wavering tariff announcements, global markets are once again bracing for volatility. The US President’s announcement of his ‘reciprocal’ tariffs last week triggered market chaos. His surprise move, expanding and intensifying tariffs on a wide range of imports, shook equities, manufacturing and commodities alike. But in the world of crypto [...]
Consumer confidence flattens as recovery stalls despite wage growth April 11, 2025 Consumer confidence was flat in the first quarter of the year despite high wage growth, as economic uncertainty weighs on Brits. Overall consumer confidence rose 0.3 percentage points in the first three months of 2025, with sentiment towards the UK economy at its lowest level in over a year, according to Deloitte. “The consumer recovery [...]
BMW M5 2025 review: The hybrid super saloon with V8 muscle April 10, 2025 I was there, and 1984 was nowhere near as terrible as George Orwell would have you believe. Ghostbusters and The Goonies ruled the box office, Prince released Purple Rain, and Frankie Goes To Hollywood topped the chart with Relax, then again with Two Tribes. In Munich, meanwhile, BMW pulled the wraps off the world’s first [...]
Bank of England should be ‘more careful’ about rate cuts, say deputy governor April 10, 2025 A Bank of England rate-setter has said that policymakers need to be “more careful” about cutting rates after years of high inflation, adding that it was “too soon to say” whether President Trump’s tariffs will weigh on price growth in the UK. Sarah Breeden became the second official since Trump’s Rose Garden speech to take [...]
S&P 500 slumps on open as Treasury yields remain elevated April 10, 2025 US markets have opened down after digesting the implications of Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs. The Nasdaq opened down 2.7 per cent, while the Dow Jones fell 1.9 per cent and the S&P 500 opened 2.3 per cent down. Meanwhile, US Treasury yields have remained elevated, with the 30-year US Treasury sitting [...]