London firms sweat over looming inflation spike April 12, 2022 Accelerating inflation is dealing a severe blow to London businesses just as they are pushing to repair the damage inflicted on them by the Covid-19 crisis, reveals a fresh survey published today. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has swelled businesses in the capital’s energy bills by sending oil and gas prices soaring. Over six in 10 [...]
UK inflation to accelerate to highest rate since March 1992 April 11, 2022 Inflation in the UK will soar to its highest level since March 1992, intensifying an already tight cost of living squeeze that is hitting households, according to City experts. Accelerating food and energy prices stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will propel inflation higher, fresh estimates released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on [...]
State pension hike comes into force but savers set to feel the squeeze of inflation April 11, 2022 State pension payments have been hiked 3.1 per cent from today but savers are set to feel the squeeze as inflation outpaces the rise in payouts.
Rishi stole the crypto thunder with an NFT as Whitehall fights to go digital April 11, 2022 Last week, away from the grinding tragedy of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing fears over rising costs of living, Rishi Sunak unveiled an eye-catching plan. The Royal Mint is set to launch its own non-fungible token (NFT), marking the beginning of the government’s plans to wade into the cryptocurrency sector. NFTs have been [...]
National insurance hike sparks wave of job cuts April 11, 2022 Businesses have unleashed a wave of job cuts to cope with being hit by the national insurance hike, reveals fresh research released today. The pipeline of redundancies has taken off in the last month alone, triggered by firms scrambling to protect their bottom lines ahead of a series of damaging tax rises. The number of [...]
London cost of living soars as firms raise prices amid inflation crunch April 11, 2022 Londoners’ cost of living is rising rapidly driven by the capital’s firms hiking prices at the quickest pace ever to stay afloat amid swelling costs, reveals a closely watched survey released today. Businesses across the capital and the UK are being stung by a higher tax burden and swelling operating costs on top of trying [...]
Middle class run on equity release: Cash-hungry home owners squeeze nearly £5bn out of their properties April 9, 2022 Equity release payments in the UK increased by almost £1bn in 2021, as more and more people look for alternative ways of ensuring healthy and happy retirements. Between 2020 – 2021, the amount of money released in the UK rose from £3.9bn to £4.8bn, an annual increase of £940 million, or 24.4 per cent, according [...]
Sainsbury’s becomes first big grocer to pay London Living Wage amid cost of living crisis for Brits April 8, 2022 Sainsbury’s has confirmed that it will become the first major supermarket to pay the London Living Wage. Shop workers at Sainsbury’s and Argos stores in outer London will receive £11.05 per hour, a boost of 55p, from next month. The supermarket said this means staff in the outer areas of the capital will match employees [...]
As housing targets wither away, it’s time for councils to join us in the digital age April 8, 2022 At the end of last year, over 1.1 million people were on local councils waiting lists for affordable housing in England alone, according to ONS figures. At the same time there were 52,100 additional affordable homes provided across England, according to figures from the Department of Levelling Up, Homes and Communities. This was a decrease [...]
Energy strategy a ‘three, four, five year’ answer to crisis admits Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng April 7, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng described the energy strategy as a medium-term response which will not affect the current cost-of-living crisis.