The UK’s financial services profession is surprisingly resilient to Brexit woes November 12, 2018 The looming shadow of Brexit is hard to shake off and financial services, like most UK businesses, doesn’t like uncertainty. But despite the talk of doom and gloom with jobs disappearing in this part of the financial sector, surprisingly perhaps, we are seeing a different picture. The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is [...]
City faces a Brexit ‘nightmare’ unless a deal is done by Christmas, says new lord mayor November 11, 2018 The new lord mayor of London has said banks and insurers will face an "administrative nightmare" unless a Brexit deal is secured by Christmas. Former Barclays executive Peter Estlin told the Sunday Times that there was a "huge amount" of anxiety in the City despite recent suggestions that the Prime Minister was closing in on a [...]
Businesses feel confident in their future but consumer confidence slumps to the low recorded post-Brexit vote November 30, 2017 Confidence in business prospects has risen to its highest level since April 2017, while consumer confidence has dipped to the lows recorded in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to new figures out today. Lloyds Bank’s business barometer for November found that business confidence dipped two points to 24 per cent, and economic optimism [...]
Why the world economy is like a wobbly bike June 14, 2019 Three months ago we said “the easing in US-China trade tensions, more flexible central banks and the benefits of lower oil prices should stabilise activity later this year and support an upgrade in our global growth forecast for 2020”. However, two of those supports have now fallen away and we are more reliant on looser [...]
UK house price growth slumps to five-year low in October November 1, 2018 House prices grew at their slowest annual rate for five years in October, Nationwide data revealed today. House price growth slumped to 1.6 per cent last month, with prices flat month on month as the latest figures paint a miserable picture for housing activity across the UK. October’s 1.6 per cent growth rate fell from [...]
Brexit deal ‘within our grasp’, says Prime Minister Theresa May November 22, 2018 Prime Minister Theresa May said today that a Brexit deal “is within our grasp” as she addressed the nation from Downing Street. “The British people want a good deal. That deal is in our grasp and I am determined to deliver it,” she said outside Number 10. “The text of the declaration has been agreed [...]
Hamleys pulls slime toy as kids craze gets hit by EU safety warnings December 13, 2018 Hamleys has pulled a toy slime product off its shelves, after a wider test by consumer group Which found several products had failed safety tests for containing high levels of boron. Frootiputti slime, made by Goobands and sold by Hamleys, contained more than four times the EU limit for boron levels. The group said exposure to [...]
Sales fall again at fashion retailer French Connection as it signals modest return to profit March 12, 2019 Like-for-like sales fell again at French Connection over 2018 despite posting a modest return to profit in what it called a “tough” retail trading environment. Read more: French Connection shares rocket as it looks for a buyer The figures While the struggling retailer saw a return to underlying profit of £0.1m for the year to the end [...]
Spring Statement: Hammond warns against no deal as UK slashes 2019 growth forecast March 13, 2019 The UK chancellor Philip Hammond slashed the 2019 growth forecast in his Spring Statement and said future spending and economic wellbeing are dependent on an orderly Brexit. Hammond announced that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had cut the country’s 2019 growth forecast to 1.2 per cent, down from the 1.6 per cent predicted in [...]
Support your local small business all year, otherwise it might not stick around December 3, 2018 American Express’s Small Business Saturday last weekend saw a call to arms to encourage us to shop locally and support small businesses. Since its launch in 2010, this annual event now reaches millions of people across the US, UK and Australia, helping independent retailers get their share of the Christmas spending frenzy. Small Business Saturday [...]