Big Four accountancy firms capture larger share of UK legal market August 15, 2022 Major corporations are snubbing traditional law firms in increasingly going to consultancies and accounting firms for legal advice, according to new research from Thomson Reuters. The Big Four accounting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte – are driving growth in the alternative legal services provider (ASLP) sector, as UK corporates increasingly turn to them [...]
The Thatcherite darling narrative needs to be an election-winning story August 15, 2022 The battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party grinds on. Policy ideas are thrown out like bait from a fisherman, with Rishi Sunak declaring his support for grammar schools and Liz Truss throwing her weight behind allowing more seasonal workers into the UK. In the longer run, though, as the contest rolls towards a [...]
Firms scramble to hire workers despite recession jitters August 15, 2022 Businesses are still scrambling to hire staff despite experts forecasting the UK will drop into a drawn-out recession at the end of this year, a new survey published today reveals. Over seven in 10 firms intend to boost staff levels over the next three months, while just over one in 10 employers expect to cut [...]
Assetz Capital snags £200m to bolster small business support in mortgage lending August 15, 2022 Assetz Capital has snagged £200m in investment to help support smaller businesses through the UK’s economic turbulence, City A.M. can reveal today. The funding, from London-based Aeon Investments, will be injected over the next three years, and will see Assetz further diversify its mortgage lending and bolster its capacity to lend to the UK’s SMEs. The British [...]
Week ahead: City shapes up for possible double-digit inflation August 14, 2022 The City is bracing for a week brimming with big economic announcements that will shed more light on the health of the UK economy. London’s premier FTSE 100 index notched a decent performance last week, gaining nearly one per cent to close at a shade over 7,500 points. The mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]
Record £300bn wiped off UK bonds and gilts as investors flee in biggest market collapse in decades August 13, 2022 Just under £300bn has been wiped off the value of UK corporate bonds since the start of this year following a major sell-off in the bond market in what is considered the biggest collapse in two decades. In the first six months of this year, the total outstanding value of UK corporate bonds has fallen [...]
What the new interest rates mean for the City: ‘The UK fares worse than the EU and US’ August 13, 2022 The Bank of England’s decision to further raise interest rates from 1.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent and its two-year predictions means bad news for investors and UK residents alike. And the pain is far from over. A top City analyst expects this to further rise to 2.25 per cent in September. Other than [...]
UK’s trade deficit widens to record £27.9bn as business with Russia reaches historic low August 13, 2022 New data showed this morning that UK’s trade deficit in goods and services widens again in Q2 to a record £27.9bn. Moreover, monthly imports from Russia dropped to meagre £33m, the lowest since records began and down from over £1.8bn in both January and February of this year. Also during Q2, imports increased by £14.3bn [...]
UK economy shrinks by 0.6 per cent as Britain heads for winter recession August 12, 2022 The UK economy contracted by 0.6 in June and shrank 0.1 per cent between April and June, compared to growth of 0.8 per cent in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. Commenting on the gross domestic product (GDP) figures that showed a 0.1 per cent contraction in the second [...]