The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned there is a risk of a double-dip recession (whereby the economy goes into recession twice without having undergone a full recovery in between). The warning from the business group comes as it said the Government should delay making big spending cuts as the recovery is still weak. [...]
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has today said the UK economy will outperform its G7 rivals in the second quarter of 2010. The forecast comes despite the UK economy lagging behind other major economies and being one of the last to emerge from recession – in the fourth quarter of 2009. However, [...]
Leading business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), has today said it has concerns for the UK economy but the recovery is “still on course”. The BCC’s survey of more than 5,500 businesses showed that manufacturing sales were struggling, while new orders remained in decline. However, the business group said growth within the key [...]
Further good news for the UK economy emerged today after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said exports in November soared to £20.2 billion – the highest since October 2008. The rise was fuelled by sales of consumer goods and chemicals, according to the ONS. The ONS said that Britain’s global goods trade gap narrowed [...]
In its economic survey for the fourth quarter of 2009, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said the UK economy appears to be “on the brink of leaving recession”. The UK has been lagging behind other economies and is now the last major economy that is still in recession. Official figures due to be released [...]
A survey by business group British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has revealed that businesses are cautious about a recovery next year with figures showing that two thirds are planning wage freezes or pay cuts next year. The survey, which questioned 260 companies, also revealed that in a bid to reduce overheads, one in five is [...]
Business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), is claiming that small and medium-sized firms are still struggling to access finance. The report comes despite the £200 billion injected into the UK financial system to boost lending. According to the BCC, one third (33%) of companies surveyed said that accessing finance had been more difficult [...]
The UK economy has received a boost today with hopes that a recovery is well underway after the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK unemployment increased 88,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to August, taking the unemployment rate from 7.6% to 7.9%. Today’s figure was not as bad as expected and the [...]
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, has fallen from 1.6% to an annual 1.1% in August – the lowest level since September 2004, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today. While the decline in inflation was higher than analysts had expected, it was primarily due to lower food and energy [...]
HSBC Insurance is warning consumers to review their finances amid the current economic climate. The fact remains that many have had to tighten their purse strings but HSBC Insurance is urging consumers to review their finances in order to limit the adverse impact of the economic downturn on their finances in the future. The insurer [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has cast doubt over the UK’s exit from recession in the third quarter. Many reports are suggesting that the UK will emerge from recession in the July to September, however the leading business group said while business confidence has strengthened, the economy was still “frail”. Recently, there has been [...]
In its quarterly update, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the UK economy will contract by 4.3% in 2009 and will expand by 1.1% in 2010 (higher than the 0.6% increase forecast in its last update). In June, the BCC forecast the economy would contract by 3.8% in 2009. However, its revised forecasts are [...]
The director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, David Frost, has warned that small and medium size businesses (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to the swine flu. Mr Frost told Sky News: “After a dramatic decline in the economy there is a touch more confidence coming back. But if swine flu does really take off [...]
The Ernst & Young Item Club, the influential think-tank, said the UK economy is heading for a ‘fragile recovery’ and is predicting that the economy will contract by 4.5% this year – the biggest fall in any year since 1945. The prediction is far more pessimistic than the one from the Government who is forecasting [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed a fall in British manufacturing output. According to the ONS, manufacturing output fell 0.5% in May compared with April. Analysts had forecast a fall of 0.2%. Meanwhile, on an annualised basis, output in May was down 12.7%, while market expectations had been for an annual drop of [...]
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), the influential think tank, has forecasted that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.4% in the three months to June – the fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Official GDP figures for the April to June period are due to be released at the end of this month. [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the leading business group, has voiced its concern about a recovery in the UK. While the group believes that the worst of the UK’s recession is over, it said talk of a recovery is “premature”. Last week, official figures revealed that the UK economy shrank by 2.4% in the [...]
The Government has announced that the UK minimum wage will rise by 7p to £5.80 an hour from October, despite warnings to freeze the hourly rate. According to the Government, almost one million people will benefit from the increase and the 7p an hour rise applies to workers aged 22 and over. In the meantime, [...]
As widely expected, the Bank of England has kept interest rates unchanged at 0.5% today for the second month in a row. The Bank has embarked on aggressive cuts over recent months to bring inflation down and fight off a prolonged recession. Many analysts said a further rate cut would have had little benefit since [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling for Chancellor Alistair Darling not to increase the national minimum wage in Wednesday’s Budget. The request comes as the organisation is calling for measures to drive the private sector out of recession. Other measures including reducing corporation tax paid by small businesses, as well as introducing help [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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