May 2023 local elections: All you need to know Keeping council In just over a month, voters in some parts of the UK will be heading to the ballot box for the local elections. Polling stations will open for residents to select local councillors – in what’s often seen as a key test for the government’s popularity, particularly after the turbulence of recent months. It’s also [...]
SNP leadership race: Humza Yousaf wins battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon Scotland Humza Yousaf has been selected as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) after an acrimonious race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as first minister. Yousaf, the SNP’s health secretary, 37, won against rival Kate Forbes, 32, in the second round of voting, after no candidate reached a majority in the first round. He secured 26,032 [...]
UK-India trade agreement ‘about deal and not dates’, minister says TRADE The UK’s talks with India are “about the deal and not the dates”, a minister has insisted as a Conservative backbencher queried government progress towards a free trade agreement. Trade minister Nigel Huddleston told the Commons “we will not tie our hands in terms of setting an arbitrary deadline”. He spoke in response to Conservative [...]
Small businesses suffer with rising costs, Vodafone steps in to help December 22, 2022 Telecom giant Vodafone has announced a free broadband scheme to support UK based small business. Vodafone has said that it will give a year’s free broadband to small businesses signing up for a 24-month contract. This is accounting for the rising costs of living, inflation and impact on small businesses. 10per cent of UK small [...]
Home working with poor broadband costs UK £60bn per year November 14, 2022 Working from home with a poor broadband connection is costing the UK’s economy £60bn per year, according to a recent research. Figures from software company Actual Experience showed that technical issues with broadband – including delays and call dropouts – have led to an average loss of £1,000 per worker. IT issues created problems especially [...]
Overseas travel to UK lags behind pre-Covid levels despite yearly boom September 24, 2022 Overseas travel to the UK has remained significantly behind pre-pandemic levels, despite a boom if compared to 2021 levels. This is largely due to countries around the world – including the UK and EU – scrapping Covid travel restrictions since the beginning of the year. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday [...]
UK voters’ concerns on inflation reach highest level in four decades July 26, 2022 UK voter worries on inflation are at their highest since the 1980s as the country faces a severe cost of living crisis and prices of essentials surge. The July 2022 Ipsos Issues Index by research company Ipsos showed that 45 per cent of adults in the UK view inflation as one of the most pressing [...]
Demand for alternative assets to rise 46 per cent over next 12 months July 13, 2022 Demand for alternative assets is set to soar by 46 per cent over the next 12 months as rising inflation sends investor interest surging. In a survey by alternative investment platform AssetTribe and market research firm Survation, 53 per cent of the 580 investors surveyed across the UK and Europe said their appetite for alternative [...]
Pandemic-born businesses could add over £20bn to UK economy, study shows July 7, 2022 Businesses started during the Covid pandemic could add £20.4bn to the UK economy as the number of start-ups during the pandemic grew. About 800,000 companies were registered in the first year of the pandemic in the UK, 22 per cent more than the year before, a joint report by CBI Economics and NatWest showed. 80 [...]
AXA UK Chairman Scott Wheway steps down with Mark Pain appointed June 30, 2022 AXA UK plc announced that Chairman of the Board Scott Wheway is stepping down today. Non-Executive Director Mark Pain will serve as Chairman from tomorrow. Wheway was appointed as Chairman in December 2017 while Pain was appointed to the Board in December 2018. He is Chairman of the Risk Committee and Senior Independent Director Wheway said [...]