Press Releases
Sit back and enjoy this selection of articles that we have selected.
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Banks defy Brown call to free up credit
Saturday 3rd January 09
Guardian.co.uk/business
Britain's banks are defying the government by starving businesses and households of loans and warning that credit will become even scarcer in the first three months of this year.
A Bank of England survey found that in spite of Gordon Brown's call for more loans, lenders had further reduced the amount of credit available in the last three months of 2008 and warned that they planned to continue to pare back. Banks and building societies are being deterred from lending by the worsening economic outlook and the fall in house prices and other assets against which loans are secured.
Record numbers 'face insolvency'
Wednesday 31st December 08
BBC.co.uk/news
Accountants KPMG are predicting that the number of people facing insolvency in 2009 will reach record levels. The group estimates that 150,000 people in the UK will go bankrupt or enter official debt arrangements - up from an estimated 104,000 in 2008.
It expects people heavily in debt owing to spending on day-to-day expenditure or holidays will be "ill-equipped" to cope with the economic downturn.
FTSE 100 index has its worst year
Wednesday 31st December 08
BBC.co.uk/news
The financial brutality of 2008 has been confirmed after the FTSE 100 index recorded its biggest annual decline since its inception in 1984. Britain's main share index ended 2008 trading down 31.3% compared with a year earlier.
With trading closing at 1230 GMT, the FTSE finished 2008 at 4,434 points. A year ago it closed at 6,457. In New York, the Dow Jones closed slightly up, but was down almost 34% for 2008, its worst year since 1931.
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Cheerful welcome for the rate cut
Friday 5th December 08
BBC.co.uk/news
A yellow smiley face on the front page of the Sun greets the Bank of England's decision to slash interest rates to 2%.
But the Daily Mail isn't quite so cheerful - millions of savers have been "thrown to the wolves", it says.
There is no love lost for the high street banks, the Daily Mirror says the banks that do not pass on the rate cut will be named and shamed.
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House prices suffer biggest fall since records began
Thursday 4th September 08
Guardian.co.uk/business
House prices fell by 1.8% in August, bringing the average price of a property in the UK below the government's new stamp duty threshold, figures showed today.
UK economic growth slows sharply
Friday 25 July 2008
BBC.co.uk/news
The UK economy grew 0.2% in the second quarter of the year, as the credit crunch took its toll on the housing market and consumer spending.
The figure is the lowest quarter-on-quarter growth for three years. It grew 1.6% on the same quarter a year ago, also the weakest growth for three years, and much lower than the 2.3% growth seen in the first quarter. Economists had expected GDP growth to slip to 0.2%, and some are warning that a recession is likely.
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MPC meeting: Bank split three ways on interest rate policy
Thursday 24 July 2008
Guardian.co.uk
The prospect of a cut in interest rates to revive the flagging economy was in the balance last night after it was revealed that members of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee were split three ways at their last meeting.
Although seven members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to hold rates, the meeting's minutes showed one member voted for a rise and another for a cut as they wrestled with the dilemma of a slowing economy combined with increasing inflation
Bank of England holds interest rates at 5pc
Thursday 10 July 2008
telegraph.co.uk
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has voted to hold interest rates at 5pc, as it grapples with soaring inflation coupled with an economic downturn. At the same time consumer confidence has dropped to a new low, according to the latest survey by Nationwide, and house prices continue to fall. Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, said today that average house prices in June fell by 2pc compared with May, and 6.1pc on an annual basis.
Recession 'looming' for UK firms
Tuesday 8 July 2008
BBC.co.uk/news
The UK is facing a serious risk of recession within months, the findings of a survey of almost 5,000 small, medium and large businesses suggest.
The British Chambers of Commerce's (BCC) quarterly report found the credit crunch and rising costs had dented the most important sectors of the economy.
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UK spending power 'in heavy fall'
Friday 4 July 2008
BBC.co.uk/news
UK consumer spending power has fallen "dramatically" due to a large rise in the cost of living, research by Ernst & Young suggests.
The average household is 15% worse off than it was five years ago, the Annual Discretionary Income Study says. After household bills and tax, it found the typical family had less than 20% of its gross income remaining - compared with 28% in 2003.
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Chancellor dismisses recession talk
Thursday 3 July 2008
Guardian.co.uk
Alistair Darling today dismissed speculation that Britain is poised for its first recession since the early 1990s as the growing threat to Western economies was highlighted by a fresh surge in oil prices to within striking range of $150 a barrel.
With G8 leaders set to explore ways of reducing the cost of crude when they meet in Japan next week, the chancellor admitted that a combination of spiralling energy costs and the credit crunch were having a dampening impact on growth, which the City expects to slow from the 0.3% registered in the first three months of 2008.
High Street plans to be unveiled
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Invest-in-Southampton
Plans to enhance Southampton High Street will be displayed in an exhibition next week.
In August works will begin to repave the popular street, widen the footways, plant new trees as well as adding street furniture and new lighting.
The works are expected to last for about 10 months and once completed will radically enhance the area and will be a boost for businesses as well as shoppers.
Guidance on Surviving the Credit Crunch
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Invest-In-Southampton
The potential effect of the credit crunch is a growing concern for many Hampshire and Isle of Wight businesses. As a result, Business Link, the information, advice and support service for businesses, has rounded up Business Link’s best online resources for helping businesses beat the credit crunch at www.businesslink.gov.uk/creditcrunch to make support and advice quick and easy to access.
More go to the wall as credit crunch begins to bite
Tuesday 20th May 2008
Daily Echo
The credit crunch is claiming ever more Hampshire residents, with the numbers of people declaring themselves bankrupt in the county rising by a quarter.
The latest statistics show a 25 per cent increase in people petitioning for their own bankruptcy in the county, as opposed to being forced into bankruptcy by a creditor, from 289 cases in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 360 cases in the first quarter of 2008.
