Business and Economics

A year ago the world — and especially Europe — was reeling from the unforeseen results of the Brexit referendum: the then prime minister, David Cameron, was one of the first victims with his resignation coming on the morning of the referendum results. Sterling was another one. In the wake of the unexpected results, the pound had fallen to a 31-year low (before rallying slightly) and seemed to herald in the financial apocalypse of which the Remainers had warned. The...

More than one million households with children suffering under ‘cruel’ Government pay pinch Shocking new figures from GMB, the union for public sector workers, show almost 2.5 million children are being hit by the public sector pay cap. Analysis of the latest ONS figures show an estimated 2.4 million children live in 1.4 million households where at least one adult works in the public sector as their main job. The average full time public sector workers in the UK has...

New research has revealed £176 billion company Nestle could keep production of the Blue Riband in the UK for just £1 million. Nestle announced it was going to move production of the iconic chocolate biscuit to Poland in April. Some 300 jobs in Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland are jeopardy despite the biscuit been primarily consumed by the UK market – meaning it will have to be exported BACK into this country if production moves to Eastern Europe. GMB is...

Now that the United Kingdom has triggered Article 50 to set the wheels in motion for leaving the European Union, where will UK businesses look to if they decide to expand overseas? Some may still decide to test the markets within the European Union. But, with uncertainty about the conditions under which the UK would trade with the EU and the rest of the world, it’s not unreasonable to think that some businesses in the UK would act upon its...

As post-Brexit realities begin to settle in, many UK industries are struggling to stay afloat against the tide of uncertainty and reduced trade opportunities. One sector which appears to be holding it’s own, however, is construction. Thanks to government-backed programmes, the British construction industry may actually see significant growth in the near future. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has forecast the creation of 179,000 new jobs over the next five years with an annual growth rate of 1.7%. Compared...

Under the Conservative led coalition the number of British people who fell into the poverty trap grew by almost three quarters of a million, according to figures from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) . In 2014 there were 3.9 million people who struggled to survive in the UK but it was 4.6 million a year later, a very worrying rise in such a short space of time. The citizens were caught the cycle of “persistent” poverty. Alongside these worrying...

The Conservative Party assumes that people want lower taxes and the rolling back of the public sector, and under Thatcher that approach worked and kept the party in power for a long period of time. However, it appears that the British people are increasingly in favour of the opposite and welcome an increase in taxes and Govt spending, according to a new study. The research found that almost half of people in the British Isles want the Government to raise...

Region's industry nosedives in ‘massive problem for workers and local economy. The North West has haemorrhaged more than 77,000 manufacturing jobs in the past decade, a new study by GMB has shown. The figures were discussed at GMB’s annual Congress in Plymouth. They show that 77,700 jobs in the sector disappeared from 2006 to 2016, a massive fall of 18%. Between them the lost jobs have meant the North West has seen £725 million less paid in manufacturing wages in...

A full year has passed since the June 23 Brexit referendum. Britons voted by a margin of 52% to 48% to break from the European Union. The Brexiteers may not have known it at the time, but the long-term consequences of a Brexit have far-reaching implications for UK banks. For starters, banks in Britain are currently operating with full access to European markets. Those passporting rights will be affected in the absence of a negotiated settlement post-Brexit. On Monday, 20...