The UK’s dominant services sector was boosted by a surge in new orders and rising business confidence last month, underscoring a recent recovery in private sector output. A closely watched survey of businesses, compiled by S&P Global, reported the best month for new order volumes in the services sector for a year. This was accompanied […]
House prices rose in March for the third month in a row as an easing of mortgage rates drew buyers back into the market, data from Halifax shows. Average house prices increased by 0.8 per cent last month, after a 1.2 per cent rise in February, according to the mortgage lender’s latest house price index. […]
Talks between Royal Mail and postal workers have ended without a deal, raising the prospect of further strikes disrupting the UK’s letter and parcel deliveries. The talks between postal service bosses and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) at the Westminster-based Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ended after 1am on Wednesday with the two sides failing […]
Amazon and Microsoft are facing a referral to the UK’s competition regulator over allegedly harming competition in the online cloud services market, amid “significant concerns” that big tech companies are abusing their positions. The British communications regulator, Ofcom, said it was proposing to refer the whole sector to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), adding […]
People who are accepting discounts when selling their houses are selling properties with reductions of 4 per cent, or £14,000 on average. Zoopla said that, despite demand for homes to buy being lower than it was a year ago, improved choice and realism among sellers were helping to drive sales. The property portal tracks the […]
Lord Sugar has enjoyed a multi-million pound pay-out after selling his stake in a skincare business run by a former contestant on The Apprentice. The business magnate and TV personality cashed in after a £200,000 investment in 2011 in Tropic Skincare, founded by entrepreneur Susie Ma. He also acquired a 50% share in the retailer, […]
Women are working an average of 13 per cent longer hours compared to the 1970s, while men’s working hours dropped by an average of two per cent, a think tank report has found. Researchers at Onward found, on average, Britain is not working significantly more, as full-time male workers have seen their hours fall by […]
The slump in the UK’s manufacturing sector deepened last month, with output levels worse than expected despite a decline in inflationary pressures. Factories recorded their eighth consecutive monthly drop in activity, according to purchasing managers, with an index of the sector declining to 47.9 in March — lower than forecast and below an initial reading […]
Hospitality bodies have warned that business failure is worse now than it was during the pandemic as the sector braces itself for the first month of trading following the end of the government’s energy bill relief scheme. “We’re seeing an acceleration of business failure which is now worse than the pandemic,” Emma McClarkin, chief executive […]
Moonpig has reported its largest ever week of sales in the UK thanks to consumers scrambling for Mother’s Day cards. The listed retailer, which allows shoppers to personalise cards and gifts, said it now expects annual revenue for the year ending 30 April to remain at £320m, despite previously warning that Royal Mail strikes haddisrupted […]