Jeremy Corbyn vows to vote down Chequers deal as he calls for UK to stay in a customs union September 26, 2018 Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he would vote down Theresa May's Brexit plan as part of a gamble to trigger a general election. In his keynote speech to Labour's conference on Wednesday, Corbyn said his MPs would not back May's so-called Chequers proposal, but would also oppose leaving the EU without any trade deal. He claimed [...]
Is the high street really doomed? June 26, 2018 UK high street retailers have endured a torrid time over the last few years. A slew of store closures, job losses and administrations don’t make for pretty headlines, and illustrate just how difficult it is for those looking to invest in the retail sector. Discount retailer Poundworld followed electronics firm Maplin and toy retailer Toys [...]
Struggling House of Fraser’s brand perception is in decline June 13, 2018 Last week, retail store House of Fraser announced plans to close 31 of its 59 shops – including its flagship Oxford Street store – as part of a ‘rescue deal’. If the plans go ahead it could lead to the loss of 6,000 jobs across the UK. It is yet more bad news for the [...]
Crossrail delayed by almost a year over safety issues August 31, 2018 Crossrail has been delayed by almost a year, the infrastructure firm behind the project has admitted today. The Elizabeth line, which had been expected to launch in December, will now open through central London in autumn 2019. It is understood the company only told Transport for London and the Department for Transport about the severe delay yesterday. [...]
GDPR can rebuild public trust in businesses plagued by high-profile data breaches and privacy scandals May 25, 2018 I’ve been meaning to clean up my mailbox for a long time. Now, suddenly, it seems to be doing this itself. As a consumer, this feels like a welcome bit of help. But its more than that – these emails are a critical part of the UK’s future economic success. The great inbox purge marks [...]
London startups take the lead in Tech Nation’s fourth Upscale accelerator January 25, 2019 City startups have landed more than two thirds of the places available on Tech Nation’s fourth Upscale acceleration programme, beating out over 100 applicants. The digital entrepreneur network, which also runs a fintech accelerator backed by the Treasury, has selected 30 startups as “ones to watch” in 2019. The fast-growing tech firms will enter the programme’s [...]
Visa report says UK consumer spending has fallen April 16, 2018 Consumer spending by UK households continued to decline in March, according to Visa’s UK consumer spending index. The index showed that year-on-year spending dropped 2.1 per cent last month. This follows from a one per cent annual drop in consumer expenditure during February. Spending fell on average by 1.4 per cent year-on-year over the first [...]
Crystal ball time: We asked the experts what’s in store for 2018 for stocks, bonds, currencies and economics January 3, 2018 At the start of 2017 investors might have been forgiven for expecting a more predictable year ahead. If they were, they were sorely disappointed by a year of intrigue – and yet asset prices kept rising, despite the drama. We asked the experts to dust off their crystal balls once more to see what lies [...]
Forty per cent fall in demand for diesel pushes new car sales down by nearly 16 per cent in March April 5, 2018 The ongoing onslaught against diesel cars continues to push down UK sales, with sales for new cars slumping by 16 per cent in March. Demand for diesel was down nearly 40 per cent compared with the same month last year, while alternatively fuelled vehicles (AVFS) were up 5.7 per cent . Demand for petrol was [...]
The UK’s export economy is at its strongest point since 2000 March 7, 2018 UK exports are at their strongest position since 2000 despite threats posed by Brexit, a report by Heathrow Airport and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has found. Heathrow's export climate index tracks factors including the consumer confidence of the UK's main trade partners by their share of UK exports; effective exchange rate [...]