Hold fire: Bank of England leaves interest rates at 0.25 per cent but warns the economy may need further assistance September 15, 2016 The Bank of England has conformed to market expectations and held its key rate of overnight interest at 0.25 per cent. The nine-strong rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously in favour of keeping rates on hold and maintaining its massive stimulus package. The rate was cut last month from 0.5 per cent as the Bank tried to [...]
Summer retail spend still strong following the Brexit vote September 15, 2016 Retail sales edged downwards in August following the nation's bumper spending spree in July – but sales were more than six per cent higher than last year, indicating consumers were still happy to spend after the Brexit vote. Excluding fuel, sales fell 0.3 per cent month-on-month in August, but sales were up 6.2 per cent on last year, [...]
This entrepreneur is so against Trump he’s made a hilarious card game about it September 15, 2016 What do you do if you're concerned about Donald Trump becoming President and gaining power? If you're one Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you invoke the power of satire. The founder and boss of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, has done just that with the creation of "Trumped up Cards", a card game erring into the realm of the ridiculous… not [...]
London’s tallest office buildings still command sky-high rents post-Brexit vote September 15, 2016 Fears have been mounting about the future of commercial property after the nation voted to leave the EU, but London's skyscrapers remain some of the most expensive office space in the world. London skyscrapers still command the fourth highest rental value in the world, beaten only by Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo, according to [...]
China expected to be the golden ticket for Accesso as revenue leaps September 14, 2016 International growth in resorts and attractions is set to work well for ticketing technology company Accesso in coming years. China's booming middle class could propel the country to the fore of global theme park, resort, and attraction ticket sales and Accesso is expecting to be able to take a slice of the action. Bottom line growth in recent months means the Berkshire-based company is now eyeing up expansion [...]
Labour market shows no sign of Brexit uncertainty – yet September 14, 2016 The number of people in work hit a new record high in July, as economy-watchers were left waiting even longer for signs of a post-referendum slowdown. Figures out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday morning showed the unemployment rate steady at 4.9 per cent, defying concerns that the jobs market could have faltered in [...]
Wage growth has fallen – but employment has hit its highest since records began September 14, 2016 Wage growth edged down in the three months to the end of July, official figures today suggested – but there was a silver lining, as the number of people in employment hit its highest since records began in the early 1970s. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed average weekly earnings including bonuses increased [...]
A toast to Edinburgh’s ‘Flat White Economy’ as tech firms are lured north September 13, 2016 The burgeoning ‘Flat White Economy’ is likely to play a vital role in the future of the post-Brexit UK economy. Now the second largest business sector in the UK, it accounts for 8.7 per cent of GDP. The term, originally penned to capture the explosion of digital businesses in London’s EC1V postal district, is spreading [...]
Buyers beware: Is the central bank credibility crunch point approaching? September 12, 2016 Market contrarians continue to close out their short positions on stocks, bonds and risk currencies as buying supports market levels, record low bond yields and emerging market assets. But can central banks continue to win the confidence game and herd investors into riskier trades, or will the credibility of Draghi, Kuroda, Carney and Yellen ultimately be [...]
Who knew printers were still a billion dollar business? HP and Samsung, that’s who September 12, 2016 Apparently, we haven't gone fully down the digital rabbit hole yet and still need to print things out on dead trees. It's a business worth at least $1.05bn (£792m), in fact, as HP snapped up Samsung's printer business for just that amount in a major deal on Monday morning. Samsung will spin off the business as part of its efforts to [...]