The Bank of England has raised interest rates for a fifth time in succession to tackle soaring inflation despite growing fears over the strength of the economy. In a move widely anticipated by City economists, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to increase its key base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%. Commenting […]
InDisruption caused by three days of strikes will leave only a fifth of rail services running, with no trains at all connecting some British cities during the evening rush hour, Network Rail has warned. Industrial action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week will cost the economy £150 million and cause six days of disruption. […]
Apple misled users over an upgrade that actually slowed iPhones’ batteries, a tribunal will be told, and 25 million British users could be eligible for hundreds of pounds each if a consumer champion wins a legal claim launched today. Justin Gutmann, a campaigner who formerly worked for Citizens Advice, has issued a £768 million claim […]
About 1,800 jobs are to be created in South Yorkshire building 10 new environmentally friendly airships. Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a small Bedford-based company, announced on Wednesday it had signed a deal to provide a Spanish airline with 10 of its 100-passenger Airlander 10 helium-filled airships. The aircraft, which the company says will have under […]
The value of mortgage arrears in the UK has reached its highest level since 2010, with £2.05bn of mortgage debt delinquent at the end of the first quarter of 2022. As interest rate rises and the cost-of-living crisis hit household finances, more families are now beginning to fall behind on mortgage payments. Matthew Carter, partner […]
New ONS data shows that British exports to the EU reached their highest ever level due to rising exports of fuels as the bloc continues to import substantial quantities of LNG. Goods exports to the EU reached £16.4bn in April 2022, their highest level in current prices since the series began in 1997. Meanwhile, the […]
More than 64,000 staff at Lloyds Bank are to receive a £1,000 one-off payment to help with the rising cost of living in the UK. The payment – due to be made in August – comes after a campaign by the union Unite, which demonstrated at Lloyds’ annual general meeting last month. Unite said it […]
Banks and building societies will have to do more to look at the impacts of reductions to their services, such as cutting branch opening times, under new proposals from the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority said some banks and building societies are not doing enough to understand the impact of the changes they make […]
The UK government is ending the last remaining subsidies for electric cars, arguing it will free up funds to expand the charging network and support other battery-powered vehicles. In a controversial move, the government has closed the £300m plug-in car grant scheme to new orders on Tuesday, the Department for Transport said. The main industry […]
Almost nine-in-ten UK banks or financial services organisations have lost out on green trade finance opportunities, compared with only 56% in Switzerland, new research reveals. With pressure from governments and international bodies for the global trade finance system to incentivise carbon-reduction and sustainability, 90% of financial organisations in Switzerland and 96% in the UK say […]