Recession knife-edge: Consumer spending on credit at £1.3bn as house prices continue to slide May 2, 2023 Britain’s better than expected economic performance since the turn of the year is poised to have lured consumers into splashing the cash on their credit cards, new numbers out this week are tipped to show. Families are tipped by markets to have borrowed £1.3bn in March, which would signal spending in the UK is holding [...]
Coffee beans and ready meals send food inflation soaring yet again – and peak is yet to come May 2, 2023 Food inflation reached new highs in April soaring 15.7 per cent, according to new data, with the cost of convenience food such as ready meals and coffee beans increasing due to supply chain woes. While shop price inflation fell slightly by one per cent in the month to 8.8 per cent, food prices remained at [...]
Recession, what recession? Firms shrug off UK economy fears to focus on growth May 2, 2023 Britain’s small businesses are turning their attention away from worrying about whether the country will slip into a recession to focus on growth, a new survey out today shows. Confidence among the country’s small firms – which drive output – climbed sharply from its depths at the end of last year, according to the Federation [...]
UK retail giant set to ditch central London office space amid job losses May 1, 2023 John Lewis is looking to cut its office space by over 50 per cent after the company seeks to drastically cut costs benefiting from a loose hybrid working approach. The John Lewis Partnership, which also owns Waitrose, first announced its plans to move offices last year, waiting until the lease of its current Victoria HQ [...]
Coronation: How much will it be worth to the West End? April 30, 2023 Retail and hospitality businesses across London’s West-End are gearing up for a £50m boost during the Coronation weekend, as a flock of tourists will help temporarily relieve inflationary and cost of living woes. According to figures from New West End Company, which represents 600 retail, restaurant, hotel and property owners spanning from Bond Street to [...]
Formula 1 engineer: Budget cap should rise with inflation April 29, 2023 Last season, Formula 1 teams Aston Martin and Red Bull were punished for issues relating to the newly introduced budget cap. While Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin received a slap on the wrist and a fine for a technical error relating to admin, Red Bull went above the $145m cap by £1.8m, were fined $7m and [...]
Eurozone grows marginally in first quarter as outlook for 2023 remains weak April 28, 2023 The eurozone grew only marginally in the first three months of 2023 and at a rate lower than market expectations after stagnation at the end of last year, preliminary data showed on Friday. Gross domestic product in the eurozone expanded by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, below expectations in a Reuters poll for [...]
UK on course to miss decarbonisation goals, MPs warn April 28, 2023 The UK will fail to reach its decarbonisation goals via the grid by 2035 - unless it significantly speeds up deployment of technology.
Huw Pill’s “let them eat cake” moment could get its just desserts with a slice of Bitcoin April 28, 2023 Jason Deane rounds up the week with a doff of the cap to Marie-Antoinette for a comparison with the Bank of England's Huw Pill.
Property: Has spring sprung? Mini budget ripple blamed for keeping a lid on monthly sales April 28, 2023 UK residential transactions in March 2023 totalled 89,560 which was 19 per cent lower than the same month a year ago but 1 per cent higher than February 2023, according to HMRC. The seasonally adjusted figures also show the total of non-residential property purchases, including commercial and factory property was 10,640, three per cent higher than [...]