Last orders: US private equity giant calls time on bid to buy pub chain Marston’s February 11, 2021 Platinum Equity Advisors today announced its intention to pull out of its bid to buy British brewer and pub chain owner Marston’s. Marston’s, which runs around 1,400 pubs, rejected a £690m takeover offer from the US private equity firm last month, claiming that the bid undervalued the company. The British Hobgoblin brewer has seen shares [...]
Covid-19: This is the London Tube line with the worst rate of wearing face masks December 4, 2020 Covid-19: This is the London Tube line with the worst rate of wearing face masks
Crypto mania, financial contagion and the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ May 3, 2022 From the gold fever of the 1840s and 1850s and the bicycle bubbles of the 1890s to the bowling manias of the1960s and the dot-com boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, our animal spirits are forever in search of greener pastures. In recent times, the financial herd has stampeded into the field of cryptocurrency. [...]
Consumer credit borrowing exceeds repayments for first time since August June 29, 2021 Households borrowed more in consumer credit than they repaid in May for the first time since August, according to Bank of England data published on Tuesday. Net consumer credit was £280m in May, reversing a trend seen throughout the majority of the pandemic as households reined in spending whilst the economy was shuttered. The positive [...]
Rishi Sunak rolls out more financial support after sinking businesses demand immediate lifeline January 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak has set out plans to offer more financial support to businesses struggling under England’s third nationwide lockdown. Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are set to receive a one-off grant of up to £9,000 per property to help them survive. Taxpayers will fork out another £4bn for the business grants, which will benefit more [...]
Bank of England carefully monitoring rising house prices, says Cunliffe June 1, 2021 The Bank of England is carefully monitoring the rise in house prices which has been largely fuelled by the extension of the stamp duty holiday. A year ago activity in the housing market collapsed in the wake of the first lockdown with transactions dipping to a record low of 42,000 in April 2020. Since then [...]
Antofagasta production on track but miner warns on Chile lockdown April 21, 2021 Mining giant Antofagasta today said its production and costs were in line with expectations in the first quarter but warned of the impact of a fresh lockdown in its home country. The Chile-based company said copper production was on track at 183,000 tonnes, 5.7 per cent lower than last year and five per cent lower [...]
Goodbye 2G and 3G, hello 5G: Dorries agrees £50m to make UK telecoms safer December 8, 2021 The government have announced new measures this morning to boost UK telecoms security, including phasing out 2G and 3G by 2033.
Who is lying? Downing Street flatly denies Cummings claim Boris Johnson insisted on seeing Queen early in pandemic July 20, 2021 Downing Street this afternoon flatly denied Dominic Cummings’ claim that Boris Johnson wanted to visit the Queen early in the pandemic despite coronavirus having hit No 10. The former chief aide in No 10 alleged that he had to convince the Prime Minister out of visiting her by warning of the potentially grave consequences. But [...]
Inflation might be the only cure for our bubbly housing market June 8, 2021 House prices in the UK (and many other parts of the world) are soaring, squeezing affordability yet further. Rising inflation looks like the most obvious candidate to prick this bubble. House prices in the UK rose by 10.9% in the year to May. That’s the most rapid growth seen in almost seven years, according to [...]