Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Retail sales fell unexpectedly by 1.4 per cent last month, as consumers reduced their spending due to the increase in living costs, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said the fall was largely down to a decrease in demand for online purchases. New retail figures show the amount…
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The number of UK sectors reporting output growth rose in March, according to the latest Lloyds Bank UK Recovery Tracker. However, while UK services businesses benefited from strong demand and a further loosening of Covid-19 restrictions, goods producers were disproportionately affected by the war in Ukraine – leading to the largest gap between manufacturing and…
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The Chancellor delivered a Spring Statement which will reduce fuel duty on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for the next year and announces a £5 billion income tax cut from 2024. The National Insurance starting thresholds will rise to £12,570 from July. The Government says that the tax cut, worth over £6 billion,…
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The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said decisions taken by the Chancellor in his Spring Statement will reveal whether he believes the Government should be protecting consumers from external events or not. IFS says with the cost of living soaring, Rishi Sunak will have to decide whether to cut spending or borrow more to…
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The Resolution Foundation has warned that a typical household’s income will fall by about £1,000 this year once the effect of inflation is accounted for. The change in inflation would be the biggest real-terms fall in incomes since the mid-1970s, the think tank added. It expects inflation to peak in April at 8.3% – much…
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UK wage growth failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living between October and December, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show. While wages increased, when taking inflation into account pay was down 0.8% compared to a year earlier. Employees’ regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 3.7% between October and December from a…
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The bounce back in the UK economy was stronger than expected last year, but the EY ITEM Club’s Winter Forecast has nevertheless downgraded its projections for UK GDP growth for 2022. The EY ITEM Club believes that UK GDP grew 7.3% in 2021, up from the 6.8% predicted in its previous forecast. Growth of 4.9%…
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Official figures show that inflation jumped to 5.4% in December, with this the highest rate since the 7.1% recorded in March 1992. The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation was up from 5.1% in November, with soaring food costs and energy price increases helping drive the rate up. The Office for National Statistics (ONS)…
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Real wages officially began to fall in November, and the current period of shrinking pay packets is likely to get worse before it starts to ease in the second half of 2022, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. Real regular average weekly earnings wages fell by 1 per…
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A Deloitte survey of CFOs found persistent labour shortages, the pandemic, climate change and higher inflation were seen as the leading risks to their businesses in the year ahead. However, some 37% said that increasing capital expenditure was a priority for 2022. This is the highest figure recorded by Deloitte since it first asked the…
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The Government has announced £1 billion in support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK. The new measures will mean businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for…
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A study by insurance provider Simply Business has predicted that one in five small businesses will not survive 2022 unless their Christmas sales are strong. It was also found that 27% of SME staff are “not confident” about their trading fortunes, while one in ten expects to fare worse this month than they did last…
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The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the first time in three years amid growing concerns over inflation. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of eight to one to raise rates from the historic low of 0.1%. With inflation at a ten year high, the Bank said this was…
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