Sunak eyes overhaul of capital raising rules to boost London market post-Brexit October 12, 2021 Rishi Sunak has set out his ambition to make capital raising easier for public companies listed in London as a part of the government’s regulations overhaul post-Brexit. The chancellor today launched the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, which will look at ways of giving listed companies greater access to capital through secondary transactions in a bid [...]
Rishi Sunak blasted for using £19bn of IMF funds as UK aid money abroad October 12, 2021 The Treasury is said to consider using a windfall from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as aid money, by ‘recycling’ billions of pounds, according to reports. Sunak is preparing to use a large portion of the funds to contribute to the UK’s current aid spending rather than using it in addition to what is planned, [...]
Markets brace for Christmas BoE rate hike October 12, 2021 THE UK could be stung by an earlier than expected rate hike as the Bank of England moves to hose down runaway inflation. Investors kicked off the week yesterday by repositioning their bets toward a first rate increase since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis at the Bank’s last rate setting meeting of the year [...]
Unemployment drops by 0.4 per cent to 4.5 per cent October 12, 2021 The number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 207,000 between August and September to a record 29.2m, returning to levels seen before the pandemic struck, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The unemployment rate in the UK shrank 0.4 per cent to 4.5 per cent. Though unemployment fell, the number of job vacancies [...]
Swelling NHS and social care costs will force Sunak to more than double new levy, warns IFS October 12, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have to more than double a levy on employers and employees to meet the cost of an-ever demanding health and social care system. Ongoing cost pressures generated by the UK’s ageing society are likely to force Sunak to hike the newly created health and social care levy to 3.15 per cent [...]
Energy crisis: Treasury mulling over emergency cash request for industrial firms October 11, 2021 The Treasury is now considering a formal emergency funding request to help bailout industrial firms struggling with energy price rises in what appears to be an end to a cabinet row. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) today submitted a formal funding request to Rishi Sunak’s department, after the Treasury yesterday said [...]
£1.5bn Covid pot for businesses without tax relief has not paid out single penny yet October 11, 2021 A support pot with £1.5bn in funds created for business that were not able to get tax relief during the Covid pandemic has not paid out a single penny yet. In March, the government announced that it would retrospectively ban more than 170,000 business rates appeals which cited the pandemic as the reason for changing [...]
Businesses yet to receive a penny from £1.5bn Covid support pot October 11, 2021 English businesses are yet to receive a single penny in relief following the announcement of a £1.5bn targeted Covid support fund six months ago. The business rates relief fund was announced to help businesses affected by Covid outside the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors. The government said it would retrospectively ban more than 170,000 rates [...]
UK business output falls to lowest level since lockdown October 10, 2021 Business output has shrunk to its lowest level of growth since the reopening of the economy as staff shortages and supply chain disruptions battered productivity last month. The closely-watched BDO Output Index suggests a slowdown across both manufacturing and services, falling more than five index points month-on-month to 100.69, effectively indicating average trend growth just [...]
Energy crisis: Kwasi Kwarteng rows with Treasury over heavy industry bailout talks October 10, 2021 Kwasi Kwarteng has been slapped down by the Treasury over emergency funding for struggling industrial firms, with the business and energy secretary accused of “making things up”. Kwarteng said he was speaking with the Treasury about a solution to help struggling manufacturers that are on the brink, however the Treasury has anonymously briefed to Sky [...]