Marshalls: Recovery in construction to ‘build throughout the year’ January 21, 2025 Housing industry supplier Marshalls has said it expects the construction industry to recover in 2025 after struggling over the past few years. But the firm still said its outlook remained “cautious” due to “continued market uncertainty” as well as the impact of an increase in costs from higher National Insurance contributions. Marshalls faces a £3m increase [...]
Abrdn: Scottish asset manager makes turnaround on flows January 21, 2025 Abrdn has reported “significant progress” on managing to keep hold of investor cash, as the Scottish asset manager continues on its cost cutting plan. The firm received £2.3bn into its institutional and retail wealth arm over the last quarter, pushing up 2024 to a positive year for new cash, it revealed in a trading update [...]
UK economy: Headache for Bank of England as wage growth accelerates January 21, 2025 Wage growth picked up towards the end of last year, new figures show, revealing the continued persistence of price pressures in the UK economy. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), annual regular pay growth averaged 5.6 per cent in the three months to November, up from 5.2 per cent previously. [...]
Aon: Pioneering Risk Analytics in a World of Shifting Sands January 21, 2025 The global insurance market is a complex and dynamic landscape, constantly reshaped by emerging risks, technological advancements, and shifting economic tides. To navigate this evolving terrain, businesses need a partner that can provide clarity, foresight, and innovative solutions. Aon, a leading global professional services firm, is rising to this challenge with its cutting-edge analytics capabilities, driven by [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes pose ‘major threat’ to UK labour market resilience January 20, 2025 The government's tax hike pose a "major threat" to the health of the labour market, a leading economist has warned.
Labour’s appeal to regulators is about blame-shifting, not growth January 20, 2025 Labour has appealed to the regulators for ideas to boost the economy, but Britain can’t regulate its way to growth, writes Eliot Wilson After six months of a Labour government, it would be hard to argue the economy is healthy. The economy flatlined in July, August and September, the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions [...]
IMF upgrades UK growth outlook after sluggish year January 17, 2025 UK economic growth is set to accelerate this year after it missed forecasts in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. The global economic body slightly upgraded its growth projection for the UK in a fresh update of its influential World Economic Outlook report. The IMF said UK gross domestic product (GDP) is on [...]
FCA looks to ease consumer duty burden as Reeves pushes regulators for growth January 17, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will look to ease the burden of complying with its stringent consumer duty rules as part of a push to cut red tape in the City and unlock growth. In a letter to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week, FCA boss Nikhil Rathi said the regulator would drop a requirement [...]
Next: Lord Wolfson warns Budget will make it ‘harder’ to enter workforce January 17, 2025 The boss of retail giant Next has warned that tax rises announced in the Budget will make it “harder and harder for people to enter the workforce”. Lord Wolfson told the BBC that the government’s move to hike national insurance (NI) would disproportionately hit entry-level jobs. “The axe has fallen particularly hard on those entry-level, [...]
Retail’s Christmas results don’t match up to the gloom in the market January 17, 2025 If you were to judge the health of the retail market solely from the last two weeks of festive trading results, you would think the market is in rude health. But that would be a significant departure from the actual sentiment in the market, which has taken on a sense of almost unrelenting gloom in [...]