Worker shortages intensify despite employers ramping up hiring September 3, 2021 UK firms’ struggle to find candidates to fill roles continues to intensify amid severe shortages of workers across the economy, according to new figures released today. Latest data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows nearly 200,000 new job ads were posted in the last week alone, highlighting how desperate employers are to hire new [...]
Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to step down after a year at the helm September 3, 2021 Japan’s prime minister has announced he will not run to be re-elected as the leader of his party, marking the end of his tenure at the helm of the country. Yoshihide Suga has been in the role for just a year, succeeding long-standing Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The announcement has been partly prompted by [...]
Javid calls for two percentage point hike to national insurance to fund social care September 3, 2021 Health secretary Sajid Javid has called for a higher hike to national insurance to fund clearing the swelling backlog of NHS work and social care, according to reports. Javid has reportedly pushed for a two percentage point increase to NICs in a bid to raise funds for England’s ailing social care system. Javid’s proposed level [...]
General Motors shuts eight plants amid supply shortages September 3, 2021 Vehicle manufacturer General Motors will shut down most of its North American plants in September as the semi-conductor chip shortage continues to bite. Yesterday the company announced it would shut four plants in the US, three in Mexico and one in Canada for up to two weeks, including two sites which make the company’s trademark [...]
US stocks scale to new heights … again September 2, 2021 Wall Street’s main benchmarks scaled to new record highs once again today, as investors brace for an expected bumper jobs report tomorrow. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq both hit new peaks today, but pulled back slightly heading into the early afternoon session. The former was up 0.38 per cent to 4,541.45 points and [...]
Another Goldman banker or a much needed hawkish voice: Who is Huw Pill? September 2, 2021 Much has been made over whether the corridors of the Bank of England will resemble a Goldman Sachs office following the appointment of Huw Pill as the Old Lady’s new chief economist. It does follow a string of high-profile appointments at the Bank in recent years from the pool of Goldman alumni. Mark Carney, who [...]
Brexit: UK food and drink exports to EU plummet September 2, 2021 Food and drink exports from the UK have plummeted due to a sharp drop in trade with the EU after Brexit, according to fresh research published today. Data from the Food and Drink Federation shows overall UK exports of food and drink slid £2bn in the first half of this year, primarily the result of [...]
Barratt profits soar on red hot UK housing market September 2, 2021 A red hot UK housing market drove profits at housebuilder Barratt Developments up sharply over the last year, according to fresh results published today. The housebuilder posted a 65.1 per cent surge in pre-tax profits for the year-ended 30 June, reaching £812.2m, up from £491.8m in the previous year. Despite the recovery in net earnings [...]
Cazoo snaps up data firm Cazana for £25m as expansion continues September 2, 2021 Cazoo today announced that it had bought car pricing data platform Cazana for £25m as it continues its rapid expansion. The used car marketplace said that the purchase would help it improve its vehicle buying and pricing across the UK and Europe. It comes less than a week after the platform, the brainchild of serial [...]
Acquisitions of UK and Irish SMEs climb nearly 60 per cent September 2, 2021 Interest in acquiring UK and Irish SMEs peaked in the first half of this year as buyout firms and large companies seek to capitalise on undervalued high-growth businesses, according to research released today. Data from Dealsuite shows the number of small and medium businesses with revenue between £1m and £200m sold in the UK and [...]