‘We know this has been painful’: Scottish Mortgage board defends strategy after bruising year May 17, 2023 Bosses at Bailie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Board Investment Trust admitted the last year had been “painful” today after a 33 per cent plunge in the value of its shares over the 12 months to March.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warns of uncertainty over inflation drop May 17, 2023 The risk of inflation staying higher for longer than the Bank of England’s two per cent target than it expects is mounting due to the slow reduction of wage pressures and price rises, the Governor of the central bank warned today. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, Andrew Bailey warned the [...]
Jeremy Hunt: UK not ‘in a position’ to know if it can cut taxes before election May 17, 2023 The government is currently not “in a position to know whether we’re going to have any headroom at all” to cut taxes in the run up to the next election, Jeremy Hunt claimed today. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, the Chancellor said he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “have our [...]
FTSE 100 close: London ends in the red as BoE’s Bailey warns of persistently high inflation May 17, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 index fell on Wednesday evening as Andrew Bailey warned that the UK would face high inflation for months to come. The capital’s premier index closed down 0.36 per cent at 7,723.23 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 0.30 [...]
All Bar One owner still feeling the pinch from inflation May 17, 2023 Mitchells and Butlers, the UK’s largest listed pub group, saw a drop in profits this morning, but said that its cost outlook was improving amid ongoing inflationary pressure. The All Bar One and Toby Carvery owner made £100m in adjusted operating profit for the half year ending on April 8, down from £120m a year [...]
Use of community lenders rises as cost of living pressures see more refused loans elsewhere May 17, 2023 Community lenders saw a 22 per cent increase in customers in 2022 as the deteriorating economic environment helped exclude ever larger numbers from the traditional financial sector. According to new figures from Responsible Finance, community development finance institutions (CDFIs) increased total lending by 20 per cent in 2022 to £248m, reaching 94,744 customers. The majority [...]
Signs of unemployment jump emerge in UK economy – and it won’t solve worker shortages May 17, 2023 There are some signs that Britain’s red hot jobs market is calming down. That’ll please officials at the Bank of England, who, remember, are trying to make people and businesses (on average) a bit worse off to tame inflation. Wage growth which, in cash terms, has been rising rapidly for around a year, didn’t spring [...]
UK must solve labour issues and cut red tape to help ease food inflation, lobby group warns May 16, 2023 The UK government must address labour shortages and make sure regulations don’t weigh food producers down to help ease food price inflation, an industry lobby group has warned. Downing Street hosted a Farm to Fork event at No10 with retailers, traders and producers invited, as Rishi Sunak announced greater protections for farmers in future trade [...]
FTSE 100 close: Vodafone tumbles more than seven per cent after announcing 11,000 job cuts May 16, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 gave up gains today as fresh data yielded tentative signs that the UK workforce is rebalancing and telecoms giant Vodafone tumbled quickly. The capital’s premier index fell 0.34 per cent to 7,751.07 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, was [...]
Explainer: Back to work, Britain. Is Hunt’s plan to get people out of retirement working? May 16, 2023 It was one of the key ambitions of Jeremy Hunt's spring budget, to get Britain back to work, and on the surface, it seems to be working.