UK CPI: Inflation rate surges to 1.5 per cent in April May 19, 2021 UK inflation more than doubled to 1.5 per cent in April, up from 0.7 per cent in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this morning. Economists had forecast a rise of 1.4 per cent, as a jump in electricity and gas bills pushed inflation higher. Core inflation, which excludes energy prices and other [...]
Don’t believe the hype: streaming doesn’t sell artists down the river January 19, 2021 Last October, the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee launched an inquiry into the impact of music streaming on artists and the industry, after calls from campaigners to shake up how streaming royalties work. While I appreciate the concerns of many artists, I should say that I am a big fan of streaming, for many [...]
Budget: What should Rishi Sunak prioritise to boost UK manufacturing? March 2, 2021 Government borrowing has now exceeded £270bn in this financial year, according to the Office for National Statistics. While under normal circumstances, this may have raised some eyebrows, we are still operating in unprecedented times. Despite the significant COVID-19 relief bill, further investment stimulus is required, and the UK manufacturing sector will be hoping this is [...]
Government faces fresh calls to relax two-metre rule to save hospitality industry June 12, 2020 The government should relax the two-metre social distancing rule, overhaul business rates, and create an Autumn bank holiday if it wishes to help businesses recover from the coronavirus lockdown, according to MPs and representatives from the hospitality industry. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism today said that companies in the hospitality industry had [...]
Boris Johnson to tell Brits to work from home in lockdown U-turn September 22, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today tell Brits to work from home where possible as the UK slaps down fresh restrictions to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Just weeks after urging people to head back into the office, the prime minister will make a sharp U-turn and say that people should work from home if they [...]
Government eases pressure on small businesses with further loans support September 24, 2020 The government today rolled out a much needed lifeline for small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic by loosening the terms under which they have to pay back emergency loans. Under the new scheme, dubbed “pay as you grow” by chancellor Rishi Sunak, all businesses who have borrowed money through the Bounce [...]
Sunak’s spending spree ‘catastrophe’ for UK’s night time industry July 9, 2020 Casinos, comedy clubs and nightclubs have accused the chancellor of letting Britain’s night industry “slip through the cracks”, as a new wave of financial support for the hospitality industry failed to provide specific support for shuttered night time venues. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a raft of measures in his £30bn mini-Budget yesterday, in a bid [...]
Us versus them will do nobody any good on the High Street January 14, 2021 While a new year symbolises a fresh start for many, you could be forgiven for thinking you had been planted in the film Groundhog Day but instead the calendar was stuck in 2020. Perhaps nowhere is this more the case than in the retail and hospitality industry, with Lord Sugar’s legal challenge to the planned [...]
The green spirits revolution, and no absinthe in sight February 26, 2021 There have been an uncountable number of words written about how the restaurant industry has had to adapt to survive, and altogether fewer on how the premium booze market is staying afloat. Like the hospitality trade, spirits distillers and winemakers have seen a huge portion of their trade wiped out over lockdown, unable to sell [...]
Vaccine news leads to surge in London business confidence: Lloyds November 30, 2020 London business confidence increased following the news a Covid-19 vaccine may soon be a reality. According to the Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer for 2020, overall confidence of firms in London rose five points in November to -19 per cent.Firms’ confidence with their own business prospects was -18 per cent, compared to -16 per cent in [...]