Today: Bank of England to push interest rates to 13-year high to slow cost crunch and inflation May 5, 2022 Interest rates are expected to be hiked once again later today to their highest level for 13 years as the Bank of England battles to cool rocketing inflation. The Bank’s policymakers are predicted to increase rates from 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent – a level not seen since early 2009 – and ramp [...]
Today’s interest rate hike may hit mortgage holders hard, warns IFS director ahead of BoE announcement May 5, 2022 Paul Johnson, director of the Institute For Fiscal Studies, warned this morning of the impact on people’s mortgages of an expected interest rates hike by the Bank of England on Thursday. “We are still at historically staggeringly low levels of interest rates,” he told Radio 4’s Today programme. “So you look at it that way [...]
US Federal Reserve hikes rates at quickest pace in over two decades May 4, 2022 The world’s most influential central bank today hiked interest rates at the quickest pace since 2000 in a sign the era of cheap money is coming to an end. The US Federal Reserve lifted the financial system’s key interest rate 50 basis points to a range of 0.75-1 per cent as it scrambles to douse [...]
European firms hike prices at fastest pace on record May 4, 2022 Businesses in Europe are hiking prices at the fastest pace on record in response to swelling costs triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China lockdowns, revealed a closely watched survey released today. The fresh figures underscore the severity of inflationary pressures that are spreading through the world’s top economies. Data published on Tuesday by [...]
Steeper US Fed rate hike sends investors wobbling May 4, 2022 The prospect of the world’s most influential central bank hiking interest rates by double the amount it normally does weighed on London’s top indexes today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 0.9 per cent to 7,493.45 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK [...]
Armac Martin – Beautiful, brilliant, British manufacturers May 4, 2022 | Sponsored The Victorian-era designer and tastemaker, William Morris said in 1880: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Birmingham-based Armac Martin has met this ‘brief’ perfectly ever since it was established in 1929 by Harold McGrail to make luxury brass fixtures and fittings for high-end [...]
No tall tales here but quite a yarn! May 4, 2022 | Sponsored It seems that many of the decisions that have made Brodie Cashmere a fashion powerhouse over the last 12 years were taken round the kitchen table – all the way from the initial set up to overcoming Covid’s impact in the last couple of years. Anne-Marie Holdsworth set up her luxury apparel and accessories company [...]
Focusrite – helping the world’s new musical talent be heard May 4, 2022 | Sponsored Focusrite Audio Engineering is no ordinary music equipment company. The company may sell a range of top products – and they have won this award for excellence in international trade – but it also puts its users, many of whom are musicians, first. Any visitor to Focusrite Group’s website, of which Focusrite Audio Engineering is [...]
Delphis Eco – cleaning up but no greenwashing May 4, 2022 | Sponsored For the founder and CEO of Delphis Eco, which supplies UK made, green and sustainable cleaning products, eliminating ‘greenwashing’ is key in not only to saving the planet but helping people to genuinely make a difference. This London-based company, established in 2007 by former banker Mark Jankovich and has been awarded the Queen’s Award for [...]
Brits cling onto pandemic savings amid economic uncertainty May 4, 2022 Brits are clinging on to their pandemic saving war chests in a sign that the UK could be headed toward a recession this year, reveals official figures published today. Rampant inflation is failing to push households into drawing down money set aside during lockdowns, suggests data from the Bank of England. Savings – including those [...]