Business and Economics

In another Brexit story you couldn’t make up, a very lucrative contract has been agreed with a business that will run extra ferries if a ‘no-deal’ Brexit takes place, but has no ships,and has not previously operated a service. Seaborne Freight was one of three companies awarded contracts totalling £108m last week to lay on additional freight crossings to ease the pressure on Dover. Seaborne’s contract is for £13.8m and they have defended themselves amid criticism it doesn’t currently have any shipping...

Stocks are falling in London, as traders rush to sell following last night’s hike in US interest rates. It is the worst performance since Sept 2016. When the markets opened for trading the FTSE 100 shed 119 points (1.6%), which is a new 28-month low of 6646 points. Over in the US, Wall Street stocks slumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates, sending major indices to fresh 2018 lows, even as the US central bank signaled it...

Britain risks slipping from being the world's fifth-biggest economy, when it is due to leave the European Union, with France and Indian on course to overtake it, accountancy firm PwC said. It is thought that France and India will overtake the UK economy. The accountancy firm projected economic growth in 2019 of 1.6 per cent for Britain -- assuming the country manages to avoid the shock of a no-deal Brexit in March against 7.6 per cent of India and 1.7 % for France. "The...

The Cabinet will today order Britain's six million businesses to start immediate preparations for No Deal Brexit. With just 100 days left until D-Day and negotiations stalled the likelihood of Britain withdrawing from the European Union without a deal in place is looking increasingly likely. Labour MP David Lammy has warned a no deal Brexit would be the "single most destructive government failure in peace time" and would cause "huge damage to the economy and probable recession". But the Prime...

Jaguar Land Rover's announcement that it plans to axe up to 5,000 jobs shows a "Brexit bomb is exploding over Britain’s manufacturing industry", The Independent's Chief Business Commentator James Moore has said. The car manufacturer said it will be making thousands of job cuts in the new year as part of a £2.5 billion savings plan to ward off the threat from Brexit, falling sales in China and a drop in demand for diesel cars. Britain’s biggest carmaker employs 40,000 in the...

It isn’t good news for travellers at UK airports as tourists are being offered almost one pound for one dollar. The rate is always poor at airports compared to other currency exchange outlets,however this is a clear indication of the trouble sterling is in. Those exchanging pounds at the UK's biggest airport, Heathrow, are finding as little as $1.05 coming back across the counter. Since 16 April the pound has fallen by 11.77% against the US dollar. In some currency...

Sir Richard Branson thinks a no-deal Brexit would "near bankrupt" the UK. Branson made these comments to the BBC.  He was "absolutely certain" that leaving the EU without a deal would cause the closure of "quite a few British businesses". Sir Richard was speaking from the Mojave desert in California when he said: "I think Theresa May needs to be 100% honest with the public. "She's admitted that a hard Brexit would be an absolute disaster for the British people. "From...

Uncertainty caused by Brexit is causing buyers and sellers to sit tight in increasing numbers across the UK, according to the November 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey. Looking at London, the results from the latest survey continue to show a weaker trend in sales with demand and supply falling once again, as almost half of respondents to the survey across the UK as a whole cite political uncertainty caused by Brexit as impacting the UK housing market.  The number...

As the UK falls into chaos over leaving the EU, the EU itself has gone on and approved a huge trade deal with Japan starting in 2019. The European Parliament voted 474 to 156 in favour of the plan to bind the two economic powerhouses. This will create the world’s largest free trade area totally around a third of the earth’s GDP. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement: “This will bring clear benefits to our companies, farmers,...