Interest Rates
Coverage examines how changes in interest rates affect the UK hospitality and foodservice sector, including impacts on borrowing costs, business investment, consumer confidence, and property finance. Reporting provides context and analysis to help restaurant groups, pub operators, and catering businesses understand the financial environment and make informed strategic decisions.
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Mar- 2020 -30 MarchGovernment
UK GDP expected to contract by 15% in Q2 2020
The UK economy is about to enter the deepest recession since the financial crisis, including the steepest quarter-on-quarter decline in economic activity since comparable records began, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). CEBR expects the economy to have contracted marginally in the first quarter of the…
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13 MarchBusiness Bites
BT’s boss catches it, markets rebounding, pain medication prices spike
Today I am going to rattle through a wider selection of stories than normal because the spread of the virus is hitting so many sectors hard, with key figures in the business community affected. The markets are recovering some of their losses this morning after having their worst selloff since…
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11 MarchBusiness
Bank of England cuts interest rates to help combat coronavirus impact
The Bank of England has cut UK interest rates back down to the lowest level in history to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, announced the 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) reduction, from 0.75% to…
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Jan- 2020 -15 JanuaryBusiness Bites
Boohoo more valuable than M&S – a sea-change encapsulated
From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto cliché to refer to Marks and Spencer as the “high street bellwether”, yet that is the status it has held for so many decades. The once mighty monolith was the first British retailer to reach a market capitalisation of £1bn and…
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14 JanuaryBusiness Bites
Javid mulls three-year passenger duty holiday for Flybe
Things are not looking rosy for low-cost airline, Flybe, but the chancellor Sajid Javid may have some proposals that save it from complete collapse. It is reported this morning that he is considering cutting air passenger duty on all domestic flights – a big boon for all the other airlines…
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9 JanuaryBusiness Bites
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyone’s undoing?
It’s not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwether’s ranges were “too old” the…
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Nov- 2018 -1 NovemberBusiness
Bank of England puts hold on interest rates due to Brexit uncertainty
The Bank of England has placed interest rates on hold following growing uncertainty around Brexit. A vote to leave rates unchanged held by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was in favour of leaving rates at 0.75% by 9-0. Financial markets are currently indicating that rates will not rise until…
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Jul- 2018 -11 JulyPubs and Bars
Wetherspoon warns of costs increase as it reports uplift in sales
Pub group JD Wetherspoon has reported a 5.2% like-for-like sales increase for the 10 weeks to 8 July 2018, but has warned of cost increases for the next year. The group said it expected business rates, the sugar tax, utility taxes and wages to have an impact on its costs.…
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