Inflation heats up as UK firms launch record price rises April 5, 2022 The cost of living squeeze that is already threatening to cool growth is tightening, driven by UK businesses lifting prices at the fastest pace on record to cope with a cost storm, a closely watched survey released today reveals. A combination of soaring staff costs, swelling energy bills and higher raw material prices has coaxed [...]
Ukraine war is dramatically dialling up risk of global recession April 5, 2022 The war in Ukraine has dramatically dialled up the risk of a global recession, according to leading economist. The conflict has thrown a ‘massive monkey wrench’ into what was a gradually improving post-pandemic picture, Ira Kalish, chief global economist at Deloitte told delegates at the World Retail Congress in Rome. And it could have damaging, [...]
Food banks struggle to keep up with 99 per cent of all free food points seeing surge in demand as cost of living crisis rages April 5, 2022 Thousands more households are turning to the UK’s food banks for the first time as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, according to new research shared this morning. A new survey by community giving platform Neighbourly and Aldi – which work together to distribute surplus food from the supermarket’s stores – almost all food banks (99 per [...]
March car production falls to lowest in 24 years as markets feel supply chain squeeze April 5, 2022 The UK’s automotive production in March fell to the lowest since 1998 as markets continued to feel the supply chain squeeze. According to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new car registrations fell by 14.3 per cent to 243,479 units while overall the first quarter of 2021 reported a 1.9 per [...]
Letters: Housing, interrupted April 5, 2022 [Re: House price growth hits highest level since 2004 with record average of £265.3k, March 31] New figures released by the Nationwide house price index defy premature predictions of slowing prices in early 2022. An increase in average house prices of 20 per cent in the last two years is a shocking figure which coincides [...]
As consumer confidence plummets, we face a cultural reckoning over British pubs April 5, 2022 In the months ahead, people across the country will be tightening their belts and doing all they can to maintain their quality of life despite rising costs all around them. So it wasn’t completely surprising when yesterday, PwC’s new consumer sentiment survey reported the steepest decline in consumer confidence since their tracking began, 14 years [...]
Russia-Ukraine war to send chill through UK economy April 5, 2022 Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine could leave gas prices twice as high as they would have been if the Kremlin had not sent troops into Kyiv for years to come, sending a chill through Western economies, reveals fresh forecasts published today. Energy prices may be permanently higher if the war in Ukraine drags on, adding [...]
Solar power pipeline exceeds onshore wind April 4, 2022 The number of solar power development plans has massively outstripped proposed onshore wind sites over the past two years.
JP Morgan to book £762m loss on Russian assets April 4, 2022 Wall Street giant JP Morgan may lose as much as $1bn (£762m) on its exposure to Russia, its chief Jamie Dimon warned today in his annual letter to shareholders. The investment banking titan has been part of a concerted effort by the West’s biggest corporates to ditch Russian assets and pull out of the country [...]
Protestors block London Esso oil facility ahead of new UN climate report April 4, 2022 Protestors have blocked an Esso oil facility near Heathrow Airport with two bamboo structures in a bid to stop new fossil fuel developments. In a fourth day of protests, demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion and the Just Stop Oil Coalition have been blocking the exits to several oil facilities across the country, beginning with seven on [...]