Sports Direct and Debenhams will be hardest hit by Brexit, according to Canadian bank RBC – here’s why August 30, 2016 Debenhams and Sports Direct are likely to be two of the retailers hardest hit by Brexit, according to Canadian bank RBC, due to currency pressures and rising costs for the industry. The analysts predicted that disposable income in 2017 would be flat – as compared to growth of around five per cent this year – [...]
Industrial strategy needs a three-pillared approach to boost British productivity February 15, 2017 It is clear that government intervention is required to address faltering productivity across the UK, and that this could be a positive step towards meeting the underlying structural challenges facing the UK economy, such as regional inequality and low wage growth. The government has now released its industrial strategy to address such issues. So how does [...]
More than half of small businesses say the National Living Wage has hit profits September 1, 2016 More than half of small businesses say they have reduced profitability or simply absorbed the costs of the new national living wage. A June survey of more than 1,000 small businesses found that 59 per cent had swallowed the impact of the rise in minimum salary. A further 35 per cent said they had increased [...]
The chancellor’s fiscal reset is a golden opportunity to slash living costs through tax cuts and planning reform September 5, 2016 Philip Hammond recently said that he may use the Autumn Statement to “reset” fiscal policy. That is a welcome sentiment because it suggests the chancellor sees before him a golden opportunity to transform the tax system. With Parliament returning, we are likely to see the government start to formulate and publicise more detailed economic policy [...]
Feeding Britain’s largest manufacturing sector October 20, 2016 The food and drink industry is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, contributing about £95.4bn to the economy every year. It is also one of Britain’s biggest exporters. Out of a total of £12.3bn food and non-alcoholic drinks exports in 2015, British businesses sold an impressive £580m of chocolate overseas, while cheese and salmon exports were worth [...]
“Rise up”: The full text of Tony Blair’s Open Britain speech on Brexit February 17, 2017 Tony Blair has been absent from British politics for years, now – but today he returned in spectacular style, urging the UK's population to "rise up" against Brexit. Although some (including former deputy PM Nick Clegg) liked it, the majority of reaction has been that he missed the mark. Not sure what you think? Here's [...]
Marcus Brookes: How we’ve prepared for the return of inflation December 6, 2016 Inflation was already on the rise. Now I expect the policies likely to follow in Donald Trump’s presidency will pile on further price pressure. The deflating effect of QE We have been changing our portfolios over the last year to reflect our view that inflation may be returning to the financial system. Yes, quantitative [...]
Marcus Brookes: How we’ve prepared for the return of inflation December 6, 2016 Inflation was already on the rise. Now I expect the policies likely to follow in Donald Trump’s presidency will pile on further price pressure. The deflating effect of QE We have been changing our portfolios over the last year to reflect our view that inflation may be returning to the financial system. Yes, quantitative easing, [...]
How to prepare your portfolio for inflation December 2, 2016 Concerns about inflation were already on the rise. Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has further stoked expectations that price pressure, absent in most Western economies since the financial crisis, may make a return in 2017 and beyond. The basics Inflation is a measure of how fast the prices of goods and services [...]
How to prepare your portfolio for inflation December 2, 2016 Concerns about inflation were already on the rise. Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has further stoked expectations that price pressure, absent in most Western economies since the financial crisis, may make a return in 2017 and beyond. The basics Inflation is a measure of how fast the prices of goods and services are [...]