New research exposes the difficulties businesses face accessing finance from mainstream lenders and how alternative solutions can plug the gap. More than a quarter of business leaders surveyed have had difficulties accessing finance from main banks, over a third say that banks don’t understand their business needs and two in five think banks’ lending policies […]
The UK economy edged back to growth in July with output up by an estimated 0.2 per cent in the month, following a 0.6 per cent fall in June. It means gross domestic product, the main measure of output, stagnated at 0 per cent in the three months to the end of July. City economists […]
Some of the UK’s biggest strikes have been called off after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Unions representing Royal Mail postal workers and rail staff said that “out of respect for her service to the country and her family” they had chosen to cancel immediate strike action. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, […]
A group of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs have urged the Prime Minister to back a new entrepreneurship competition in a push to get British startups back on track. In a letter to Liz Truss, the group, which include senior management from crowdfunding firm Seedrs and food-sharing app Olio, called on the government to fill the […]
High-street tycoon Mike Ashley has reportedly joined the race to takeover Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. First reported by Sky News, Ashley’s Frasers Group – previously known as Sports Direct International- is now the latest bidder to join the grab for the 250-year-old Savile Row brand. It comes as Gieves & Hawkes’ Hong Kong-based […]
The Bank of England delayed its next interest-rate decision a week to Sept. 22 to allow a period of mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The move gives the Monetary Policy Committee more time to consider key inflation and jobs data due to be published next week. It also brings the rate decision […]
Renewable and nuclear power generators will be asked to supply electricity well below current market rates through new contracts that critics said risked locking consumers in a bad deal. Ministers are also understood to have approached several of the biggest North Sea producers about deals to supply gas below today’s sky-high market prices, as Liz […]
The Bank of England will lend UK energy companies as much as £40bn to deal with soaring market prices amid fears of another wave of energy company collapses. Prime minister Liz Truss, on her third day in office, said she wanted to make sure energy companies have the cash they need to buy energy if […]
Rivian Automotive, the electric vehicle start-up backed by Amazon, has agreed to join forces with Mercedes-Benz and start building electric vans in Europe. The companies will make vehicles at a site in either Hungary, Poland or Romania after signing a memorandum of understanding. Mathias Geisen, the head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said that they expected to […]
Hospitality bosses are warning that one in five businesses in the sector will not survive the current crisis and that hundreds of thousands of people will be left without jobs unless government support is received. Nearly 300 chief executives have signed an open letter asking the new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, for “a plan that cuts […]