Keeping up with the news can be tricky. Even the most eagle-eyed observer can miss a vital news story. We think being up-to-date on economic developments is key to the success of your startup.
Every Wednesday we provide the top 10 key bits of business news from the past week.
UK interest rates drop to 0.25%
UK interest rates have been cut from 0.5% to 0.25% – a record low and the first cut since 2009. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England has also signalled that rates could go lower if the economy worsens.
Brexit sees number of City jobs available in London financial sector drop 27%
The number of job vacancies in London’s financial sector dropped in July as firms dealt with the fallout from UK’s vote to leave the EU, a recruitment agency said.
Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor for July found available jobs had decreased by 12 per cent compared to the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, job vacancies fell by 27 per cent
Morgan McKinley recorded 7,890 new jobs last month, down from 10,920 a year earlier, and down from 9,060 on the previous month.
Eurostar staff to strike for seven days
Eurostar rail workers are to take seven days of strike action this month in a dispute over their work-life balance, the RMT union says.Staff will walk out from 00:01on 12 August until 23.59 on 15 August, and for three days over the UK Bank Holiday weekend.
The union says the dispute is over unsocial hours and duty rosters for about 80 train managers.
Businessman ‘shot in mouth by robbers’
A company director died after being shot in the mouth at point blank range with a silenced pistol by armed robbers, a court has heard. Akhtar Javeed died with his hands bound “in a pool of his own blood” on a pavement outside his delivery firm’s Birmingham warehouse in February. He was also shot in the throat, leg and foot after refusing to open the safe.
Half of women ‘sexually harassed at work’ – TUC survey
More than half of women say they have been sexually harassed at work and most admit to not reporting it, new research by the TUC suggests. A survey of 1,500 women saw 52% cite the problem and also found a third had been subjected to unwelcome jokes and a quarter experienced unwanted touching.
Sexual harassment at work can take many forms, from inappropriate comments and jokes about a colleague’s sex life to unwanted touching, hugging or kissing and even demands for sexual favours, the TUC said.
EU single market membership ‘boosts UK’s GDP’
Maintaining the UK’s membership of the EU’s single market could add an extra 4% to its economy, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).The think tank weighed up the benefits of staying in the single market compared with membership of the World Trade Organization alone.
UK tourism boosted by fall in pound
Flight bookings to the UK jumped since June, driven by the sharp fall in the pound following the vote to leave the European Union.
Overall, there were 4.3% more flights booked to the UK in the 28 days following the vote than last year. Bookings from Hong Kong leapt by 30.1%, while they were up by 9.2% from the US and 5% from Europe.
Travel researcher ForwardKeys said Brexit had had an “immediate, positive impact” on tourism to the UK.
UK consumers keep spending despite Brexit vote shock
Britain’s vote to leave the EU has had little immediate impact on people’s spending habits, according to new figures that suggest more money was splashed out on clothes, meals out and day trips in July.
But releasing its first post-referendum spending report, the payments company said growth was still slower than at the start of the year.
The monthly index, compiled with the financial data company Markit, showed consumer spending rose 1.6% year-on-year in July, up from a growth rate of 0.9% in June.
Brexit hit recruitment in July, a new survey suggests
The number of people in the UK securing a permanent job has fallen for two months in a row, according to a survey. The Report on Jobs, produced monthly by IHS Markit, collects data from 400 UK recruitment and employment firms.
Its data suggests permanent placements in July fell at the sharpest rate since May 2009, with participants citing uncertainty caused by Brexit.
G4S leaps to top of FTSE 250 after 44% profit jump
G4S posted a 44 per cent rise in first-half earnings on Wednesday and maintained its dividend, sending its shares 15 per cent higher, making it the top performer on the FTSE 250 share index.
The group said it was making “substantial” progress in its turnaround plan.
