Perfect storm of glitches constrains UK economy September 9, 2021 Severe shortages of raw materials, constrained labour supply and persistently high furlough rates are putting the UK economy in a vice, according to new official figures released today. The Office for National Statistic’s latest business insights survey shows almost one in three hospitality firms are finding it harder to recruit workers compared to normal times. [...]
Weekend Read: We may be about to find out what shape the recovery takes August 7, 2021 Since the first cases of Covid-19 began to disrupt the global economy, economists have not been shy of predictions. V-shaped, L-shaped, even hockey-stick recoveries have all been on the table. We may be about to find out who was right. While output growth and economic activity are still historically strong, in developed economies, those indicators [...]
Angry Lord Agnew says Boris Johnson ‘failed spectacularly as fraud in government is rampant’ at £30bn a year January 25, 2022 The Tory minister who quit yesterday in what has been described as “one of the most dramatic moments ever seen” in the House of Lords has claimed that fraud is rampant in the Government. Lord Agnew of Oulton had been the minister for efficiency and transformation before announcing his resignation at the despatch box and [...]
Staycations and Brits socialising propel consumer spending above pre-Covid levels September 7, 2021 Surging demand for staycation holidays amid ongoing travel restrictions, supported by strong appetite among Brits to socialise during the summer months, pushed consumer spending well-above pre-Covid levels last month. Data from Barclaycard shows card spending was 15.4 per cent above the same month in 2019, before the onset of the Covid crisis. The sharp rise [...]
The cost of stopping wind farms blight the countryside August 19, 2021 Scientists have calculated that excluding wind turbines from the top 10 per cent of Great Britain’s most scenic countryside will result in 18 per cent less onshore wind potential and up to 26 per cent higher costs for operators. The conclusion was made using data drawn from the Scenic-or-Not website, which is hosted by the Data Science Lab at [...]
Persimmon hires new chief finance officer as house builder’s revenue climbs to £3.61bn January 13, 2022 House building firm Persimmon has appointed Jason Windsor as its new Chief Financial Officer as the company aims to be “the leading builder of good value, quality family homes in the UK”.
TfL adds extra peak time services to London Overground December 4, 2019 The London Overground will add early morning capacity on services from Gospel Oak to Barking from next month. The line will benefit from two extra services before 6am to meet “growing customer numbers”. Read more: Crossrail delay until 2021 may cost London £2bn Rory O’Neill, TfL’s general manager for London Overground, said: “These additional early morning [...]
Exclusive: Speedy Hire’s CEO on expanding into “untapped” consumer markets with B&Q deal November 17, 2021 Speedy Hire has recovered rapidly from the pandemic and is enjoying a healthy 28.2 per cent boost in revenues, lifting expectations for its full-year results. Its adjusted operating profit has grown to £16.2m, £9.9m higher than the first six months of Speedy Hire’s previous year. The FTSE-All Share listed tools and equipment rental specialist is [...]
Cryptio bridging the gap between audit and tax reporting November 16, 2021 Accounting software provider Cryptio has launched Ionic – an enterprise grade update to its platform that will allow businesses and institutions to merge complex on-chain activity with their general ledger.
Unite union ‘paid £95m to leader’s friend’ for project estimated to cost £7m January 28, 2021 A construction firm owned by the friend of Unite leader Len McCluskey was paid £95m by the union for a project that was originally supposed to cost £7m, according to reports. The Flanagan Group, a Liverpool-based building firm, was paid the money to act as a private contractor on a new national conference centre and [...]