UK factories hit by 1970s-style cost crunch in inflation surge warning April 25, 2022 UK factories are having to swallow the quickest rise in input costs for five decades in a sign that the cost of living crunch gripping consumers is set to tighten, reveals fresh figures published today. The cost to manufacturers of buying components has accelerated at the steepest pace since 1975, according to Britain’s top business [...]
ONS: Cost of living grip chokes nearly every UK household April 25, 2022 Predictions that the UK economy is hurtling towards a period of weaker growth look set to materialise driven by historically high inflation squeezing almost all households across the country, official statistics released today indicate. Soaring energy, petrol and food prices have led to nearly nine in 10 Brits experiencing an uptick in their cost of [...]
Red Wall Conservative voters will abandon Johnson if he backs down on net zero April 25, 2022 Barely two years have passed since Parliament unanimously introduced the world’s first legal commitment to deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But with energy prices rising and cost of living pressures tightening, some on the right wing of politics – from Nigel Farage to Steve Baker – are leading a rearguard action to overturn [...]
Small businesses suffer unprecedented cost assault in sign of more economic woe April 25, 2022 Swelling costs are eating away at small businesses’ margins in a sign that a key engine of the UK’s recovery is beginning to stall, reveals fresh research published today. Nearly nine in 10 small businesses have experienced an uptick in their operating costs, squeezing their room to combat what is expected to be a weaker [...]
London-listed retailers plummet on expected spending cool down April 24, 2022 An expected slowdown in consumer spending in response to the cost of living crunch hobbling household finances has whacked London-listed retail stocks. The bucket of top retail shares in the City, known as the FTSE 350 retail, has fallen 21 per cent in the year so far, making the sector one of the worst performers [...]
Insolvencies more than double as rampant inflation and rising interest rates hit firms April 22, 2022 Company insolvencies more than doubled last month as soaring inflation and rising borrowing costs pushed firms over the edge.
Rain Newton-Smith interview: Go for growth to turbocharge economic resilience April 22, 2022 Everyone knows the dismal time the UK economy is in for over the coming year – but let’s recap. Living standards are scheduled to fall at the steepest rate in 66 years as a result of wages failing to keep pace with an average annual inflation rate of over seven per cent, according to the [...]
Bailey: Bank of England walking ‘tight line’ on taming inflation and hitting growth April 21, 2022 The Bank of England is walking on “a very tight line” between taming inflation and heaping greater woe on the UK economy. That’s according to Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, who, speaking to the Peterson Institute today, added that the historic high cost of living is going to result in “very [...]
Retail hesitancy: Online sales drop as shoppers feel pinch of rising inflation April 21, 2022 Online shoppers are spending less as the cost of living crunch starts to bite across the world, and consumers have turned to BNPL services to continue purchasing. Global digital sales have dropped three per cent year-on-year, the first recorded drop in nine years of tracking by Salesforce. The firm’s shopping index shows a drop in [...]
Brexit-supporting Newark in shock as largest employer shuts up shop and heads for mainland Europe April 21, 2022 Local media and residents in the English town of Newark, as well as its local MP Robert Jenrick, are said to be shocked and disappointed by the decision of food producer Goodlife Foods to shut up shop and move its entire production to mainland Europe. The decision is likely to result in around 110 job [...]