The Government’s Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has supported 7,313 home loans worth a total of £1bn, according to official figures published by the Treasury today (May 29).Continue reading
Today (May 28) is Tax Freedom Day, the first day of the year when the average taxpayer in the UK stops paying for the state and starts working for themselves, and this year its falls two days earlier than it did in 2013. Continue reading
Firms in the service sector, which accounts for around three-quarters of gross domestic product (GDP), are hiring more staff and feeling at their most optimistic since records began in 1998, according to business group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).Continue reading
It has been announced that the Clydesdale Bank will become the first to issue plastic banknotes in the UK when it prints a limited edition of two million £5 notes next year, before the Bank of England puts plastic notes into general circulation in 2016.Continue reading
Retail sales in the UK jumped 6.9 per cent in April year-on-year, making it the strongest annual rise in 10 years, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday (May 21).Continue reading
Business in the UK is booming, if new company formations are anything to go by, with the number of incorporations rising to 526,874 in the 12 months to March, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year and the highest figure since current Companies House records began in 1997.Continue reading
House prices in the UK rose by 8 per cent in the year to March, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), although the annual increase slowed compared with a 9.2 per cent year-on-year rise to the end of February.Continue reading
Hot on the heels of news that the taxman plans to raid the bank accounts of people who owe more than £1,000 in tax, it has been revealed that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) made inquiries into the tax affairs of 237,215 self-employed people last year, compared with about 119,000 in 2011-12, raising concerns that people who have made innocent mistakes are being specifically targeted. Continue reading
According to the Public Accounts Committee, billions of pounds set aside to boost economic growth and jobs around the country are still unspent, with only 10 per cent of the £3.9bn allocated for businesses since 2010 actually disbursed.Continue reading
The number of people out of work in the UK fell to a five-year low of 2.2 million in the first quarter of the year, while the number of people in work rose to 30.43 million, the highest figure since records began in 1971.Continue reading
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