House prices jump 10 per cent in a year amid buoyant market December 1, 2021 House prices are 10 per cent higher than they were last November, and grew 0.9 per cent compared to October, according to an index.
UK labour supply falls at fastest rate on record in June July 8, 2021 The supply of UK workers slid at its fastest rate on record as firms struggle with severe labour shortages, according to a survey released today. The latest KPMG and REC report on jobs shows supply of both permanent and temporary staff in June fell at its quickest pace since the survey started 24 years ago. [...]
Private sector set for summertime boom May 2, 2021 The private sector is set for a booming few months, with growth predicted to be at its highest since June 2015, according to growth estimates from the CBI. Private sector activity broadly is expected to grow 32 per cent in the next three months, with growth predictions for business and professional services firms (+48%) at [...]
Klarna challenger Zilch becomes fastest-ever British unicorn November 10, 2021 London-based fintech Zilch has today closed a mammoth $110m Series C funding round and become the UK’s latest billion dollar company in record-breaking time. The round brings Zilch, whose product capitalises on the lucrative Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector but in many ways resembles a credit card, to a $2bn valuation – four times [...]
Crypto mania, financial contagion and the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ May 3, 2022 From the gold fever of the 1840s and 1850s and the bicycle bubbles of the 1890s to the bowling manias of the1960s and the dot-com boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, our animal spirits are forever in search of greener pastures. In recent times, the financial herd has stampeded into the field of cryptocurrency. [...]
Consumer confidence jumps on back of vaccine news December 18, 2020 An influential survey into consumer confidence saw a significant spike on the back of positive Covid-19 vaccine news, but there remains some way to go before confidence returns to the wider economy. The Gfk Consumer Confidence tracker saw a 7-point jump in its overall index, to -26 in December from -33 the month previously, still [...]
Anti-virus firm Norton taken to court amid competition investigation March 23, 2021 The UK competition watchdog is taking anti-virus software firm Norton to court after it refused to provide information relating to an ongoing investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified concerns that Norton’s practices for automatically renewing contracts result in customers paying for services they no longer want or need. It asked the company [...]
THG boss Matthew Moulding ditches share pledge against personal Barclays loan October 20, 2021 THG chief executive Matthew Moulding has dropped a pledge of shares in the business as collateral against a personal loan with Barclays, in the latest effort to claw back investor confidence after a bleak share price crash. The company today said that Moulding and his wife Jodie were no longer using THG shares as collateral [...]
Deliveroo to create 400 new tech jobs after London stock market float July 7, 2021 Deliveroo will create 400 new tech jobs over the next year as the company aims to improve its service after a troubled stock market debut in London. The delivery giant is looking to hire across a range of roles, including software engineers, product managers, designers and data scientists. The vast majority of the jobs will [...]
Aviva reports highest quarterly insurance sales in a decade May 27, 2021 Aviva has delivered its highest insurance sales in the first quarter for a decade, while savings and retirement flows soared to a new quarterly record. The insurance giant said its core general insurance gross written premiums grew four per cent to £2bn while its core operating ratio fell to 90.6 per cent. Its SME sales [...]