Inflation

Small firms hit by pension auto-enrolment scheme, claims FSB

Small firms and startups will be “hit the very hardest” by the doubling of auto-enrolment employer pension contributions, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). From 6 April 2018, the minimum amount employers must by law pay into workplace pensions increased by 2% of qualifying earnings, whilst staff contribute…

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Online retail orders on the up

Online retail delivery order volumes were up seven percent year-on-year in February, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. The month-on-month drop from January in terms of volume was expected, though the 21 percent decline was sharper than it has been over recent years. This…

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Retail footfall drops in February

Retail footfall decreased by 0.5 percent in February 2018, and is a major decline compared with the rate of 1.0 percent seen the previous year. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) this figure is better than the three-month average of -2.0 percent and the twelve-month average of -0.7 percent.…

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Consumer spending grows 3.8 percent, outstripping inflation

Consumer spending growth held steady in February – up 3.8 percent year-on-year and in line with the three-month rolling average (3.9 percent) – as consumers made small adjustments to their budgets to make room for the ‘nice-to-haves’. Data from Barclaycard shows that supermarket spending (3.2 percent) returned to levels seen…

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UK online retail sales see 13.9 percent YoY growth

UK online retail sales were up 13.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) in January, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. With rainfall above average in January, and the lowest January high street footfall recorded in five years, consumers turned to online shopping in the beginning of…

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Dog walking one of the most popular ‘side hustles’

Dog walking has become one of the most popular ways for Brits to earn extra cash, according to new research. Commissioned by Oddsmonkey, the information revealed that Brits are using ‘side hustles’ such as dog walking and renting out the spare room to help cover the cost of living. As the annual…

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Retail footfall takes a hit with Scotland showing sharpest decline

Footfall in January decreased by 1.6% year-on-year, showing a deeper decrease than the rate seen for January 2017, according to new figures. New British Retail Consortium (BRC) data showed a drop in footfall across all UK regions, with the sharpest decline being seen in Scotland (4.6 %). Despite footfall falling…

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Online retail shows signs of maturing with tough 2018 ahead, says IMRG

The rate of retail sales growth is pointing to a ‘maturing market’, figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index suggest. UK online retail sales were up 12.1% on average year-on-year (YoY) in 2017, which was lower than the IMRG’s forecast of 14%. This figures also falls short of 2016’s…

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Inflation drops for the first time in 6 months

The inflation rate saw a slight dip in December, falling to 3%, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The level of inflation, according to Consumer Price Index (CPI), was less than November’s rate of 3.1%, which was at its highest for six years. The high…

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UK retail sales show marginal growth over Christmas

UK retail sales showed less growth over Christmas than they did last year, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Retail sales increased by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis from December 2016, which was a decline compared to an increase of 1.0% from the preceding year. Over the…

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