In full: Rishi Sunak’s virtual Conservative conference speech October 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today addressed Conservative virtual conference, pledging to support entrepreneurs but warning of difficult times ahead. Here’s the full speech: “Politics is a team sport” “Being appointed Chancellor in February this year was an immense honour. Even though my first conference speech as Chancellor isn’t quite how I expected it to be, it [...]
Not all sellers are equal — why cladding changes are urgently needed to free up the UK property market October 1, 2020 According to Rightmove, people searching for a home in a village jumped by 126 per cent in June and July compared with the same period last year. That figure should not be surprising, given that if you’ve been cooped up in a smaller flat, with less living space because you thought most of your time [...]
UK housing market continues strong recovery as prices surge September 30, 2020 UK house prices rose by five per cent in September compared with a year previous according to the latest data from Nationwide. The building society said the annual rate of growth was at its highest in four years as the post-lockdown recovery continued. Its lending data revealed that there had been a 0.9 per cent [...]
UK mortgage approvals hit 13-year high in August as post-lockdown surge continues September 29, 2020 UK mortgage approvals hit a 13-year high in August as pent-up demand post-lockdown continued to boost the housing market, but consumers became more cautious about day-to-day borrowing. Mortgage approvals for the month were 84,700, according to new data from the Bank of England — the highest rate of approvals since October 2007, just before the [...]
How Blockchain can destroy advertising and save commerce September 29, 2020 Advertising. It is a necessary part of any business. And as an industry, it is big business. The Online Advertising Market was valued at USD 304.0 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 982.82 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.6 per cent over the forecast period 2020 – 2025. (Source). It’s [...]
Rishi Sunak’s Kickstart scheme can help blunt the impending youth unemployment crisis September 18, 2020 This week’s unemployment figures from the Office for National Statistics paint a gloomy picture for Britain’s young people. In the UK those aged 16 to 24 have been hit hardest by job losses since the economy locked down. There were 156,000 fewer young people in employment in the three months to July when compared with [...]
Covid-19 note on gender: How do we prepare for A new normal which includes women equally? September 15, 2020 Helena Thernstrom works as Head of Legal for RBS’s Asset and Invoice Finance businesses where she also heads up the Bank’s gender network in London. She is a passionate and visible advocate of diversity and inclusion, including social mobility and pro-bono initiatives, and was shortlisted for the 2019 WIBF ‘Champion for Women’ award. She is [...]
The Crypto circus is back in town! This year’s star attraction? DeFi (Part 2) September 8, 2020 When the gas escaped from the ICO bubble market in early 2018, speculators and developers scrambled to find a new way to generate the huge funds and rampant growth previously offered by now collapsed initial coin offerings. DeFi is just the latest in the line of new, and ultimately self defeating attempts to bring back [...]
Muppet money: Savers lose out on billions as they stash the cash September 8, 2020 UK savers could be wasting the opportunity to earn extra income on their savings as lockdown and recession fears push investors to save cash at a record pace. In the first six months of 2020, investors stashed away a record £77bn, meaning a staggering £1.5 trillion of cash is tucked away in savings accounts, according [...]
HSBC pulls low-deposit mortgages after surge in demand September 2, 2020 HSBC UK today said it was restricting its low-deposit mortgages to those switching rates after a surge in demand. The bank said it is “temporarily reserving its mortgages over 85 per cent Loan to Value (LTV) for those customers switching rates.” HSBC was the only High Street bank to continue to offer 90 per cent [...]