The piggybank: Giving your child a financial head start this tax year August 23, 2021 With eye-watering university fees and spiralling house prices to contend with, you might think you need to be a millionaire to give your child a financial head start in life. Yet investing relatively small amounts of money into a Junior ISA each month could put your child on the path to a more secure future. [...]
How Takamaka rum went from garage grog to a top tipple August 23, 2021 Would you drink rum that started life in a swimming pool? The former manager of a Soho dive bar and a drag club in Camden thinks you’d be mad not to. Richard Cohen is the only non-national working for the Seychelles rum brand Takamaka, which has just arrived in the UK in the form of Rum [...]
UK consumer confidence inches down in August August 20, 2021 Consumer confidence among Brits edged down over the last month driven by concerns over the possible economic implications of future surges in Covid cases, according to fresh data published today. Research from GfK shows consumer confidence dropped one point over the last month to -8 points in August 2021. The marginal decline is likely to [...]
Savers predict double-digit investment returns: is that a danger sign? August 20, 2021 Savers today are more optimistic than at any point in the past five years, expecting their future investment returns to average more than 11 per cent per year. They are more likely to invest further, and to check up on their investments more frequently – but most striking of all they expect higher future returns. [...]
City figures warn London’s financial crown at risk if UK does not roll out digital Sterling August 18, 2021 City figures have warned that London’s status as Europe’s financial capital will be in serious jeopardy if the Treasury and Bank of England are slow to introduce digital Sterling. Rishi Sunak said last month that the Treasury was looking into one day releasing a so-called “Britcoin”, but that no decision had been made. Sunak said [...]
Persimmon forward sales up 9 per cent from pre-pandemic levels August 18, 2021 Housebuilding business Persimmon reported a 64 per cent leap in profits in the six months to June 30th, posting £480.1m in earnings up from £292.4m in the same period last year. The company expects a “good” forward sales of £2.23bn, up 9 per cent compared to £2.05bn from the same period in 2019. Forward sales [...]
Exclusive: UK eyes quick ‘interim’ trade deal with India as negotiations set to start this year August 17, 2021 The UK government is looking at wrapping up a quick “interim” trade deal with India, which could see tariffs slashed on products like Scotch whisky before a full agreement is in place. The Department for International Trade (DIT) is looking to start formal negotiations with India before the end of this year, after an initial [...]
FTSE: Ultra and Future soar but it’s not enough to lift London’s main index August 16, 2021 The FTSE 100 started off the week with a fall, as a rout on energy and mining shares could not be undone by a surge in the shares of Ultra Electronics and publishing house Future. The blue-chip FTSE 100 dropped 0.8 per cent, dragged down by miners Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto and oil majors BP and Royal Dutch [...]
Marie Claire owner Future snaps up The Week publisher Dennis for £300m August 16, 2021 UK media group Future, which houses publications like Marie Claire and TechRadar, has acquired rival media company Dennis for £300m in a bid to strengthen its foothold in the US. The deal includes The Week, Science & Nature, IT Pro, Computer Active, PC Pro, Minecraft World, and Coach, but not Viz, Fortean Times, Cyclist and Expert Reviews all of [...]
Rightmove: First monthly dip in UK house prices this year recorded in August August 16, 2021 The average price tag on a home dipped by just over £1,000 this month. Across the UK, the average asking price in August was £337,371, down by 0.3 per cent or £1,076 compared with July, Rightmove data out this morning shows. It marked the first monthly fall in the average price of property coming to [...]