GDP
This coverage examines how UK gross domestic product (GDP) trends affect the retail sector, analysing economic growth, consumer confidence, and spending behaviour. Reporting highlights the implications of GDP fluctuations for retail sales, investment decisions, and operational planning — offering insight for executives, managers, and professionals responding to wider economic conditions.
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Apr- 2020 -16 AprilCoronavirus
Government extends lockdown for ‘at least’ three more weeks
The government has announced an extension to the coronavirus lockdown for “at least” a further three weeks. The decision was announced at today’s (16 April) press briefing which was led by foreign secretary Dominic Raab. It also comes after Raab led an emergency Cobra committee and cabinet meetings about the…
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15 AprilCoronavirus
Covid-19 could cause UK economy to shrink by 35%, says OBR
The UK’s economy could shrink by as much as 35% in the second quarter of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said. The watchdog is also predicting a 13% drop in annual GDP as a result of the outbreak, which it said would…
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Mar- 2020 -30 MarchEconomy
UK GDP expected to contract by 15% in Q2 2020
The UK economy is about to enter the deepest recession since the financial crisis, including the steepest quarter-on-quarter decline in economic activity since comparable records began, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). CEBR expects the economy to have contracted marginally in the first quarter of the…
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26 MarchComment
Preventing inevitable recession from becoming depression
The global economy is heading into a recession, initially at least a pretty severe one. The measures introduced by governments in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus are having a dramatic effect on huge swathes of economic activity. There is the direct loss of output and employment…
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24 MarchEconomy
Covid-19 brings UK economy to temporary standstill, says KPMG
The impact of the Covid-19 virus is expected to see the UK economy contract by 2.6% in 2020, according to KPMG UK’s latest quarterly Economic Outlook. A protracted outbreak could also result in a more severe impact than the downturn experienced in 2008-09. However, it said the economy is expected…
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11 MarchBusiness Bites
ROUNDUP: Business rates holiday announced by chancellor Sunak
In his maiden budget, the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a £30bn fiscal stimulus package to help combat the impact of coronavirus on the British economy including a one-year total suspension of business rates for small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. Headline measures include: A £12bn plan to provide…
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Feb- 2020 -18 FebruaryEconomy
Consumer confidence reaches record-high in February
The IHS Markit Household Finance Index reached a record-high of 47.6 in February, up from 44.6 last month. IHS Markit, the global information provider which compiles the survey, said it is the highest index reading since the survey began 11 years ago. The firm added that while the figure is…
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14 FebruaryAnalysis
German stagnation, Javid out, RBS gets environmental, Norton no-show
The German economy has stagnated due to significant falls in spending and exports. New figures show that GDP ‘flat lined’ (financial jargon for neither growing nor contracting) in the final quarter of 2019, bad news since economists and analysts had hoped that it would grow about 0.1%. It means Germany’s…
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11 FebruaryAnalysis
Yes, the trade barriers are coming
I think both Leavers and Remainers probably expected this in the long run – Michael Gove announced yesterday that businesses should “accept” that frictionless trade with the EU will be impossible whatever agreement is finally reached by the deadline of 31 December this year. This is the cost, he says,…
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Jan- 2020 -17 JanuaryAnalysis
The trillion-dollar club has gained Google as a member
Remember at school when teachers used to explain how one million was an essentially incomprehensibly large number? I recall one of mine showing the number represented on a huge rolled out piece of paper as wide and long as a carpet, with precisely one million individual dots. I was about…
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