Business and Economics

New research has revealed Brits don't panic about debt until they're over £45,000 in the red. A study into the financial behaviour of 2,000 adults found that 37 per cent say if they can’t afford to buy something, they usually find a way of getting it anyway, either by sticking the balance on a credit card, taking out a loan or dipping into the overdraft. Four in 10 people polled admit they rely on their credit cards to see them through the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A Tory wheelchair user, who has voted Conservative for 40 years, handed in his membership in protest after yesterday’s budget. He claimed the party is “destroying lives.” Graeme Ellis even went so far as to sabotage his own party’s website, in disgust at Osborne’s cruel budget and the damage it will do to disabled people. Ellis a disability campaigner took the entire website of the Conservative disability group with him, in its place he left...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Conservative MPs voted to slash nearly £1billion from tax credits, even though the Chancellor swore he wouldn’t cut the benefit; that helps millions of hardworking families across the UK. A little-known catch will hit hundreds of thousands of people and was approved in a very brief vote and with no debate. It was a massive U-turn over his attempts to slash tax credits for over 3 million families by £1,300 in a year, however he...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The number of UK workers on zero-hour contracts is now at 801,000 up 104,000 in only a year. The Labour party tried to outlaw these types of employment deals, but instead they have increased sharply. It could be seen as a blow to job recovery, as verging on a million people are on contracts that don’t necessarily guarantee even one hour’s work in any given week, and can have hours taken away or added at...

The Government's campaign to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to export is failing to achieve its objectives, according to new research. A QuoteSearcher survey of 618 SMEs found just seven per cent of businesses are likely to take part in the campaign, with 69 per cent of respondents saying they had never heard of the campaign before. The UK Trade and Investment department is already facing an investigation as to whether it’s providing enough value to small businesses. The 'Exporting is Great' campaign...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have said that extra direct competition would see greater efficiency, lower fares and better use of rail capacity. They said that rival train firms should run services on the same lines, which would see an end to the franchises on major intercity lines. This idea was considered and rejected on operational grounds when railways were first privatised in 1994. This report has been released just before Nicola Shaw’s review into the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A report says cutting huge salaries would not hurt the economy as analysis reveals top CEOs earn on average £4.6m per annum. The groundbreaking study by top headhunters has shown that Britain’s chief executives are grossly overpaid, and there would be little impact on the economy if their salaries were cut, which disproves the fear of a “brain drain,” if pay were to be slashed. The report by the London School of Economics report bring...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor More economic gloom as housebuilding activity plunged to lowest level in almost three years. The depressing figures follow on from news in the manufacturing sector, reeling from poor global conditions and the looming EU referendum. Tuesday’s manufacturing index showed it had slipped to its worst month in almost three years in February. The housebuilding data comes from Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index growth in the building sector which sank to a 10 month low in...

Super fast growth companies know as 'gazelles' are expected to contribute £38 billion to the UK economy in exports by 2020, according to new research. The report finds London's medium-sized businesses are set for a growth spurt over the next few years up to 2020 - increasing their contribution to GVA from £62 billion in 2015 to £76 billion in 2020. This is largely due to an exciting group of super fast growth companies knows as ‘gazelles', which are companies that have...