By Hamish Mcrae Updated: 21:50 GMT, 18 November 2023 This It’s the week of the Autumn Statement. On Wednesday the Chancellor will set out the Tories’ best shot at trying to regain the public’s trust that they will be sensible custodians of the economy and they won’t bludgeon them into the ground with higher taxes. … Read more
Good old days: Booths is removing self-service checkouts Nine times out of ten, I am drawn to a self-service till when I pay for a takeaway lunch at the M&S store near my work in London. It’s usually convenient and quick, although barcodes can sometimes refuse to scan – and occasionally I put an item through … Read more
By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Updated: 10:37 GMT, 11 November 2023 The latest output data for the UK economy is almost certainly wrong if recent history is any guide. Trust in figures is at a low ebb in the wake of the Office for National Statistics under-reporting of output by 2 per cent … Read more
The City has to cut its costs and artificial intelligence will help it to do so. AI is a hot subject and last week’s international summit at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire focused on the problems that AI may bring. But let’s step back from the fun, for alas Elon Musk’s idea that all jobs will … Read more
When 17-year-old Katya Katalinic went to Kenya with her mother and two brothers just before Christmas last year, she believed the world was her oyster. Although unsure about what she wanted to do after stepping away from school for a year, she was young, vivacious and possessed a huge appetite for life, knowledge and travel. … Read more
ALEX BRUMMER: Jes Staley leaves Barclays stain By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Updated: 07:45 BST, 13 October 2023 Punished: Jes Staley Jes Staley deserves to be punished for misleading the Barclays board and the City enforcer the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As well as being hit … Read more
Update: The Bank of England held interest rates today at 5.25 per cent – this column has had figures updated to reflect that. Inflation was revealed to have dipped again yesterday to 6.7 per cent – a figure that just two years ago would have been seen as horrifyingly high but is now seen as … Read more
ALEX BRUMMER: Rachel Reeves’ plan to ‘gold-plate’ OBR Budget scrutiny is not a radical new deal Reeves promises ‘permanent tax and spending changes’ will get OBR scrutiny She says Labour will commit to single budget by end of November each year But the notion that this is some radical new deal needs to be scotched … Read more
ALEX BRUMMER: Investors who shunned UK By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Updated: 21:51 BST, 1 September 2023 The names of UK life sciences pioneers Abcam, Instem and Dechra Pharmaceuticals may not be very familiar. Yet each of the three listed companies – antibody supplier Abcam, pharma software innovator Instem and veterinary drugs maker … Read more
Seeing the whites of the eyes of those highly paid individuals who look after your investments is a rarity. It shouldn’t be, but that’s the way the investment industry has become. Aloof. Although it courts financial advisers, it leaves us poor souls to get all of our key investment information from online platforms such as … Read more