Jeremy Hunt could have another £11billion for tax cuts before the election, according to a new analysis. Estimates from Capital Economics suggested that falling debt servicing costs and optimism on interest rates have gifted the Chancellor a windfall. Ruth Gregory, the deputy chief economist, said that over the past fortnight gilt yields have dropped by […]
UK recruiters have warned the Bank of England of a dip in permanent hiring across UK businesses as organisations grapple with ongoing economic turbulence, according to a new report. KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) collected data on the state of the UK jobs market for their latest UK Report on Jobs, observing […]
UK house prices rose for the second month in a row in November, according to a leading index, as a slight easing in mortgage rates helped coax more buyers into the market. The average price of a UK property rose by £1,394 – or 0.5% – last month to £283,615, according to the mortgage lender […]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has warned of “softening” in the global luxury market as underlying sales at its upmarket division, which includes the House of Fraser department stores and Flannels chain, dived more than 11%. The fall, which does not take into account acquisitions, follows the closure of a further two House of Frasers stores […]
The chief executive of Next has called for an overhaul of Britain’s planning rules as he warned that the current system is “holding back industry and society”. Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, 56, said that trying to build stores of the right size in the places where people want to shop has been a “constant […]
The Bank of England will examine the financial stability risks posed by artificial intelligence in an effort to keep regulators’ eyes open to the technology’s threats. Andrew Bailey said policymakers were “learning at speed” about the impact of AI on the economy and financial sector, leading regulators to expand their remit to include technology from […]
The UK’s energy supply could require more than £900 billion in capital expenditure to achieve net zero by 2050, opening up a significant opportunity for public and private capital in enabling a successful transition, according to a new report published by NatWest and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) today. Signalling the scale of investment needed, NatWest […]
Support from UK Export Finance means that British firms have secured contracts to upgrade critical infrastructure in Benguela Province and protect the region against future flooding. The UK government has issued guarantees which secure Standard Chartered Bank to arrange financing for a €415 million contract between exporter Innovo Group and Angola The largest-ever sovereign transaction […]
The boardroom veteran Rupert Soames is to become the next president of the CBI, the business lobby group that is trying to recover from an existential workplace misconduct scandal. Soames, 64, will begin to take on the role early next year before formally replacing Brian McBride, 68, after members vote on the appointment at the […]
More than 200,000 pensioners were left out of pocket by a total of £1.3bn last year and many will never be repaid because of lax record keeping, according to parliament’s spending watchdog. Computer errors at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meant 165,000 also missed out on £1.2bn in the previous year, the public […]