Investors set to be cheered by Bunzl’s climbing profits December 18, 2022 Specialist distribution group Bunzl is set to have waded through cost inflation and supply chain challenges and emerged with strong sales at the end of the year. The FTSE 100 company, which sells global businesses a wide range of products from coffee cups to cafes, food wrap to supermarkets, and cleaning materials to hospitals, will [...]
City eyes final economic data before Christmas shut down December 18, 2022 Although investors will be readying to get away over the Christmas break, there are a few economic data sets to get through before the City shuts down. Last week, London’s FTSE 100 index slumped nearly two per cent to close at 7,332.12 points as traders were bombarded by a barrage of global economic news. FTSE [...]
Liz Truss, Bill Hwang and Elon Musk: The 2022 awards you don’t want to win December 18, 2022 We started the year with Boris Johnson in Downing Street and optimism for a Covid-19 rebound. It didn’t quite turn out that way – and here’s our pick of the best of the best (or worst of the worst) of 2022… THE MUM OF THE YEAR AWARD This year hasn’t been smooth sailing for e-commerce retail [...]
Toshiba’s prospective buyer mulls reducing £13bn bid after weak earnings December 18, 2022 The prospective buyer of Toshiba is reportedly mulling the decision to lower its bid for the Japanese tech giant. Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) secured 2.2 trillion yen (£13.23bn) for Toshiba from four Japanese banks on Friday. However, local business newspaper Nikkei reported yesterday that Toshiba’s weaker than expected earnings may knock some value off the [...]
Dowden says ‘our door always open’ to striking unions December 18, 2022 A senior minister has insisted that “our door is always open” to union bosses, despite refusing to engage in pay negotiations with striking nurses. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said today that “we’re always willing to talk” with the Royal College of Nurses (RCN), but that its 19 per cent pay increase demand is “not [...]
Workers at Rolls-Royce car plant receive pay increase after strike threat December 16, 2022 Workers at one of Rolls-Royce’s automotive plants have received a pay increase of up to 17.6 per cent following the threat of strikes. Staff at the Goodwood plant in West Sussex will receive a salary hike of 10 per cent plus a £2,000 lump sum. This means an increase of 16 per cent for the [...]
What a year it’s been in crypto December 16, 2022 Jason Deane takes a look back over the year in crypto.
UK consumer confidence rises but forecasts remain bleak  December 16, 2022 Consumer confidence in the UK improved by two points this month, but still remains near all-time low levels.
November sales down as online retail flops despite Black Friday December 16, 2022 Sales have slumped this November as Black Friday didn’t give online stores the boost it needed. Figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that retail sales volume contracted by 0.4 per cent following a 0.9 per cent rise in October. Online shops were hit the most as non-store retailing sales volumes [...]
Bank of England sends interest rates to 14-year high but slows hike cycle to 50 points December 15, 2022 The Bank of England today sent interest rates to their highest level since October 2008, although it slowed the pace of increases to avoid unnecessarily intensifying a looming recession by squeezing households and businesses’ finances. Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 6-3 in favour of a 50 basis point rise to 3.5 per cent, [...]