Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Greggs join forces to lobby Sunak to slash business rates May 3, 2022 Supermarket giants have reiterated calls for a cut in business rates as firms endeavour to keep prices competitive for shoppers amid rising inflation. Big names including Morrisons and Co-op have come together under a new Cut the Shops Tax campaign, organised by the Retail Jobs Alliance. In a joint letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, bosses [...]
British factories lift prices at record pace as Ukraine war and China lockdowns send costs soaring May 3, 2022 Severe supply chain disruption caused by Beijing persisting with its zero-Covid tolerance policy and Russia’s war with Ukraine has sent British factories’ costs soaring at the quickest pace on record, reveals a closely watched survey released today. Shortages of raw materials and key components used by UK manufacturers due to normal trade flows being choked [...]
1 Minute Market Rundown – 3rd May 2022 May 3, 2022 Equities Hold InCrypto Consolidates April ended as much of the year has been with risk firmly on the backfoot. It has been the worst start for the S&P since at least 1993. Crypto didn’t have the best month either with both BTC and ETH down over 16% for the month. The driving force has been [...]
McColl’s shares to be suspended from LSE as accounts cannot be signed off by auditors May 3, 2022 Struggling convenience store business McColl’s is set to have its shares suspended from the London Stock Exchange as bosses said they would be unable to get its accounts signed off by auditors in time. The retailer has been in discussions with potential lenders to shore up the business, which struggled badly during the pandemic due [...]
Millions of pensioners set to lose out as rampant inflation eats into capped pension schemes May 3, 2022 Millions of pensioners on “final-salary” pension schemes are set to lose out on thousands of pounds each, due to rampant inflation outstripping the cap on increases. Inflation is set to cost pensioners an average of £400 this year and £7,000 over their lifetimes, as soaring price rises eat into people pension pots. Almost all “defined [...]
Today: Tens of thousands of Post Office workers stage a strike as they demand more pay May 3, 2022 A one-day strike by Post Office workers in a dispute over pay started this morning. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in April. The union said the strike is over a pay freeze for 2021 and the offer of a 2 per cent increase from April this [...]
Poor start of the month for global markets: April weakness rolls into May with China lockdowns not helping May 3, 2022 Asia markets got off to a poor start to the month yesterday, as did markets in Europe after the latest China PMIs showed that economic activity in April fell back by more than expected. Much was made of the slowdown in China manufacturing to 47.4 from 49.5, however non-manufacturing saw an even bigger fall, plunging [...]
Exclusive: Londoners absorb heaviest national insurance hike hit May 3, 2022 Londoners have suffered the worst blow to their finances in the UK in the first month the national insurance hike has been in effect, reveals exclusive research shared with City A.M. today. Workers in the capital have absorbed a near £300m blow to their budgets from higher national insurance bills, the biggest jump in the [...]
Investors brace for more US Federal Reserve and Bank of England rate hikes May 3, 2022 Traders in the City and Wall Street are this week bracing for their respective central banks to push on with more rate hikes in response to a historic inflation crunch on either side of the pond. The US Federal Reserve and Bank of England announce their next interest rate decision tomorrow and Thursday respectively. Both [...]
Retail union ups pay ask to £12 per hour as cost of living spikes May 2, 2022 Retail firms should pay a minimum wage of at least £12 per hour, as recent pay hikes offer little respite against soaring inflation, a trade union has urged. In recent weeks, several large employers have hiked wages for shop floor and warehouse staff. Supermarket giant Tesco will raise hourly wages by 5.8 per cent from [...]