Gold prices hit by resurgent dollar and upcoming interest rate hike May 3, 2022 Gold prices showed some signs of recovery this afternoon after tumbling to a two-and-a-half month low earlier in the day.
TGI Friday’s owner shares plunge after revenue sinks amid diners’ tightening purse strings May 26, 2022 TGI Friday’s owner Hostmore’s share price has plummeted almost 15 per cent after the restaurant operator posted subdued revenue versus pre pandemic levels. Hostmore, which also operates the cocktail bar brand 63rd+1st, said like-for-like revenue was six per cent lower than 2019 levels. In a trading update for the 20 weeks ended 22 May, the [...]
Sunak under pressure to drop NI rise in wake of Ukraine invasion March 6, 2022 Rishi Sunak is under increased pressure to drop his 1.25 percentage points increase of National Insurance next month in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is expected the war will lead to higher inflation than expected due to Europe’s large reliance on Russian gas and Ukrainian agricultural products, like wheat. Annual growth in [...]
Brits turn to criminality as living costs skyrocket: 15 people added to insurance fraud register every day July 26, 2022 Around 15 people are being added to an insurance fraud register every day amid concerns that more could be tempted into criminality as living costs rise. The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) said it has seen a 17 per cent increase in people being added to the Insurance Fraud Register (IFR). The IFR is a national [...]
Historic inflation crunch swells UK interest bill to highest on record April 26, 2022 Historic high inflation has swelled the amount of money the UK government spends on servicing its debt to its largest level on record, reveals official figures released today. Britain’s debt interest bill for the year to March climbed 77 per cent over the last year to nearly £70bn in a further sign that Chancellor Rishi [...]
Don’t blame shops for prices if leaders can’t stop inflation August 5, 2022 Inflation is soaring and the UK’s food and drink manufacturers are under incredible pressure. No one can remember such sustained, relentless price rises across all our inputs – everything, from energy and ingredients to transport and wages, is more expensive. With food price inflation now at 9.8 per cent, everyone is asking: how much further [...]
Government plans to take stake in Sizewell C plant in nuclear push March 27, 2022 The government plans to snap up a 20 per cent stake in a major new nuclear plant in Suffolk as it scrambles to boost the country’s energy security amid soaring energy prices and war in Ukraine.
IFS: Council tax hike is looming over Brits October 7, 2021 Brits are facing the prospect of further tax hikes down the line that will intensify the cost of living crisis already squeezing household finances. Council tax could have to rise by as much as five percentage points per year for the next three years, according to the economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies [...]
Persistent labour crunch intensifies pay pressures in sign of sticky inflation February 10, 2022 A shallower pool of available workers and growing calls among staff for employers to lift pay to offset the cost of living crunch is stoking wage tension in the jobs market, reveals fresh figures released today. Intensifying pay pressures in the jobs markets adds to the growing body of evidence indicating historically high inflation could [...]
Cost of borrowing surges as overdraft rates hit record highs: Credit card fees back to the ’90s May 10, 2022 Data covering quoted household interest rates on consumer credit products released by the Bank of England this week reveal the rising cost of borrowing for UK households, With the Bank hiking interest rates by 0.25bp last Thursday and inflation expected to show a climb yet again for April, the fresh data demonstrates the difficult decisions [...]