House market cooled in April with prices falling £5,000 from record March June 16, 2021 House prices in the UK fell 1.9 per cent in April, as buyers and sellers renegotiated terms under the impression the stamp duty holiday saving would no longer be on the table. In April, the average house price in the UK stood at £250,772, nearly two per cent or around £5,000 lower than in March, [...]
Pandemic pressures leave would-be first-time buyers further from homeownership June 16, 2021 The impact of the pandemic, both on the property market and on personal finances, has left a gulf between struggling would-be first-time buyers and those already on the ladder. More than four-in-10 first-time buyers delayed plans to buy a home in 2020, with the majority saying raising a deposit is the biggest barrier to homeownership, [...]
Treasury and LSE call on EU for more co-operation on financial services post-Brexit June 15, 2021 The Treasury has called on the EU to engage more deeply with the UK government on the future of financial services post-Brexit. Katharine Braddick, the Treasury’s director of financial services, said today that both parties need to “get on” with outlining the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and EU on financial services. It comes as [...]
Ashtead ‘returns to growth’ with lofty shares up 143 per cent in final quarter June 15, 2021 Equipment rental group Ashtead ‘returns to growth’ with lofty shares in the final quarter after a rocky year, with its total revenue up 23 per cent to £1.27bn. Revenue raked in from rentals alone racked up to around £1bn, up 15 per cent in the three months to 30 April. While operating profits were down [...]
Brexit exodus: UK construction staff shortage leads to project delays and fewer new homes June 15, 2021 Construction industry experts warn that an exodus of skilled EU workers is increasingly leading to serious staff shortages and therefore damage the sector and delay a range of projects, primarily as a result of Brexit as well as Covid-19. The ONS said recently that the non-British resident population declined in the year through June 2020, [...]
Refugees in the UK receive entrepreneurship support as part of pilot scheme June 15, 2021 The Home Office, alongside The National Lottery Community Fund, has offered business startup training to 112 refugees in a year-long pilot entrepreneurship-support programme confirmed today. The programme, overseen by the Centre for Entrepreneurs, has funded four local business support organisations which trained up the refugees. The success of the pilot has helped three of the [...]
Housebuilder Bellway makes record land investment as house prices rocket June 15, 2021 Bellway has made a record investment in land since last August, a move that could pay off handsomely in the future with the recent rise in house prices. The housebuilder has contracted to acquire some 15,982 plots since 1 August 2020, up from 10,079 plots in its 2020 financial year, and 10,620 in 2019. Bellway [...]
Queen’s Birthday Honours: the full 2021 list June 12, 2021 Below the full list of names for this year ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) The Rt. Hon. Frederick Richard Penn Curzon, The Earl Howe. For political and parliamentary service. (Amersham, Buckinghamshire) ORDER OF THE BATH Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) [...]
Pharma executives study whether mix and match vaccines creater stronger Covid immunity June 11, 2021 Some pharmaceutical executives are starting to believe that mixing and matching different types of vaccines may provide stronger immunity against Covid-19. Pierre Morgon, who sits on the boards of Vaccitech and Univercells, said that he is now convinced that one dose of an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine matched with one Pfizer or Moderna jab is the most [...]
UK competition regulator secures commitments from Google on third-party cookies June 11, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has said it has secured commitments from Google on its proposal to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. Third-party cookies are used by digital advertising companies to personalise and target advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the commitments came after it took action in January over concerns Google’s [...]