Economic Outlook

May- 2023 -

11 May

BoE raises interest rate for 12th time to 4.5%

The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates for the 12th consecutive time to 4.5%, up from 4.25%. The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 7-2 to increase the rate by 0.25% in a bid to meet the 2% inflation target. The committee said it…

Jun- 2022 -

16 June

Economy

BoE raises interest rates to 1.25%

The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee has voted to raise interest from 1% to 1.25% – marking its fifth rise in a row as it bids to offset the impact of rising inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 6-3 to increase the rate to…

Mar- 2022 -

17 March

Economy

BoE raises interest rates to 0.75%

The Bank of England has raised interest rates back to the pre-pandemic level of 0.75% as it tries to mitigate the effect of the rising costs of living and the impact that the conflict in Ukraine is having on the global economy. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted with a…

Jun- 2021 -

11 June

Government & Legislation

Bira calls for extension of Gov’s TCR scheme

Bira is calling for an extension in the government’s Trade Credit Reinsurance (TCR) scheme. CEO of Bira, Andrew Goodacre said the removal of the scheme as planned on June 30, 2021, could “not come at a worse time for independent retailers”. In May, the government announced the temporary TCR scheme…

Jun- 2020 -

12 June

Economy

UK GDP slumps over 20% in April as full impact of Covid-19 is felt

GDP slumped by 20.4% in April 2020, following a fall of 5.8% in March, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the biggest monthly fall since the ONS’ series began in 1997, with the measure also falling by 10.4% in the three months to April…

10 June

Coronavirus

UK GDP expected to decline 7.2% in 2020 amid ongoing pandemic

The continuing impact of the Covid-19 virus is expected to see the UK economy contract by 7.2% in 2020, with the economy unlikely to be able to fully restart until a vaccine or effective treatments for the virus are available. This is according to KPMG UK’s latest quarterly Economic Outlook,…

Jan- 2017 -

11 January

Current Affairs

Small business confidence bounces back

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has revealed today that UK small business confidence in the last quarter bounced back to the level reported before the EU referendum campaign began. Small business are feeling more confident that previously, according to the FSB’s Small Business Index (SBI) which has now moved into…

Apr- 2016 -

12 April

Current Affairs

UK inflation rate reaches 0.5% in March

The UK inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, rose to 0.5 percent in March 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics. Although the rate has increased gradually since last October – reaching 0.3 percent in February – in terms of historical context it is still relatively low.…

Mar- 2016 -

16 March

Current Affairs

FSB welcomes changes to Small Business Rates Relief

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has responded to the announcements made in Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget speech on March 16, 2016. Mike Cherry, policy director at the FSB, said: “In a Budget constrained by both the need to reduce the deficit and the economic outlook, the Chancellor has listened…

Dec- 2012 -

19 December

Retailers

December brings festive season lull on high streets

The festive season has unfortunately brought with it a lull in high street shopping, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Responding to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey during the first two weeks of December, 36 per cent of retailers reported an increase in volume of sales…