Sadiq Khan to create £90m City Hall green bond programme February 15, 2022 Sadiq Khan will issue City Hall green bonds as a part of a £90m programme intended to boost the UK’s investment in green infrastructure. The new programme, which will be in the mayor of London’s £16bn+ 2021-22 Budget, will see £86m spent on the green bond programme and a further £4m spent on developing “high-impact [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Love you, love you not: the new China-UK relationship February 14, 2022 In a bid to snuggle up to China’s economy, Boris Johnson has tasked the department for international trade to hold the first high-ministerial talks with Beijing since 2018. Rishi Sunak has moved to restart the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, also cancelled in 2019. The timing of these decisions is a bit baffling, given that [...]
Pensioners face biggest loss in spending power for nearly 50 years February 12, 2022 British pensioners will suffer the greatest loss in spending power since in nearly 50 years, following Sunak's decision to halt the triple lock.
UK economy records highest expansion since WW2 February 11, 2022 The UK economy has registered the highest expansion since 1946, growing 7.5 per cent in 2021 despite an Omicron-induced slump registered in December. According to ONS figures, the economy was recovering strongly following a 9.4 per cent collapse in 2020 but was hit with a 0.2 per cent bump in December. Retail and hospitality were [...]
Labour’s business spokesperson backs easing of EU’s Solvency II insurance regulation February 10, 2022 Labour’s shadow business secretary has said he is in favour of scrapping the EU’s Solvency II directive post-Brexit in a bid to free up insurance firms to plow tens of billions of pounds into the British economy. Jonathan Reynolds said today at a UK Finance event that there was “an argument, not for deregulation, but [...]
Openreach adds 4000 new jobs to boost broadband February 10, 2022 Openreach announced it will create and fill more than 4,000 jobs during 2022 – including around 3,000 apprenticeships – as it continues to invest billions of pounds into its broadband network, people and training. The new recruits will be based throughout the UK, working to build and connect customers to boost the company’s Full Fibre [...]
UK watchdog probes audit of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Commodities, in wake of Greensill scandal February 10, 2022 The UK’s audit watchdog has launched an investigation into HW Fisher’s audit of Sanjeev Gupta’s metals trading company Liberty Commodities, after eight companies linked to the steel magnate borrowed up to £400m from collapsed firm Greensill Capital. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it has launched a probe into London accountant HW Fisher’s audit of [...]
Gym firm backed by Rishi Sunak’s wife to call in administrators February 10, 2022 Administrators are to be called in for the gym chain backed by Rishi Sunak’s wife. Digme Fitness was hammered by Covid measures, which saw gym goers turn away from the business’s London sites. Digme Fitness, which was founded by a former City lawyer, has eight gyms, including those dotted around the Square Mile, including near [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Peloton to ride high again February 10, 2022 They were the darling of the pandemic, and then they flopped. The American exercise bike company Peloton was a 15-minute story of fame for the ages. Its fortunes soared as the likes of Rishi Sunak and Miley Cyrus bragged about their secret spinning habit, but after gyms reopened, they floundered. Even more so after they [...]
Consumer price cap: Is the safety net fit for purpose? February 9, 2022 Ofgem remain committed to the price cap, but how much of a role has it played in the ensuing energy crisis?