As we look back on the months passed since the UK first went into lockdown one thing is abundantly clear – financially, the last couple of years have been good for some people. We’re not talking about the billionaires who have seen their shares rocket during lockdown but rather the many, many people who have …
You may use it for beer or bread, for razor blades, watching films or even for the simple act of reading books on Amazon. The subscription economy is something that has taken a hold on a large and growing portion of the population. It used to be said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers. …
One of the great themes of the past 16 months has been accidental savings: the amount people in the UK have “saved” by the simple expedient of not being able to go out and spend. “Thrifty Brits stash the cash in lockdown” has been a typical headline, quickly followed by an estimate of how much …
Setting out the government’s tax and spending plans for the year ahead, the Chancellor announced new measures to help business and jobs through the pandemic and to support the UK’s long-term economic recovery and a series of tax-raising plans to help rebalance the public finances. Here is a summary of the main points. Coronavirus support …
Introduction It is interesting to look back 12 months to Rishi Sunak’s first Budget: it was followed by a year none of us could have predicted or imagined. The Conservatives had won a comfortable majority in the December 2019 General Election. As expected, Sajid Javid became Chancellor and, in January, announced that the Budget would …
Back in 2018 Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct and other high street brands, famously declared that ‘the British high street will be dead by 2030.’ The targets of his anger were MPs in general and the then-Chancellor Philip Hammond in particular. Any more taxes on the high street, Ashley argued, and it would collapse …
In February, the Daily Telegraph had a headline which must have alarmed savers up and down the land: ‘Savers face threat of negative interest rates.’ According to the story, the Bank of England had told the clearing banks that they ‘must be ready to introduce the policy in the next six months.’ What are negative …
Home-owners with equity to speak of and would-be first time buyers are having particularly different experiences of the housing market at the moment. Cash-rich borrowers have access to mortgages seemingly getting cheaper by the day, whilst those who are trying to buy their first property with small deposits have very few options, if any at …
The beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to get on top of some of the tasks you’ve been putting off for a while. For some people that means a good detox after a Christmas cake binge, picking up the exercise routine that didn’t quite make it out of last february, or committing …
It is safe to say that Christmas 2020 is no usual Christmas. With the latest updates from the Government suggesting that families will be able to meet at Christmas and enjoy the company of up to three households between 23rd and 27th December, there may at least be some level of normality for those who …
