The U.K.’s economy kept up pace in August, helped by a robust labor market as both the services and manufacturing sectors expanded further, a boost for the newly elected Labour government that has put economic growth at the heart of its political agenda, the Wall Street Journal reported. The S&P Global Flash U.K. PMI Composite Output Index—a measure of private-sector activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors—rose to 53.4 from 52.8 in July, marking the fastest rise since April and above a forecast of 52.6 by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
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The number of companies that became insolvent in July was 16% higher than during the same period last year, according to official data, the Independent reported. In England and Wales, 2,191 businesses went bust, according to the Insolvency Service, compared with 1,890 in July 2023. The figures included 320 compulsory liquidations – when a company is forced to shut down, usually because it has debts it cannot pay – which is the highest monthly number since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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U.K. house hunters stepped up their search after the Bank of England’s first reduction in interest rates in over four years and Labour’s election win created “buyer buzz,” Rightmove Plc said, Bloomberg News reported. The online property portal said the number of buyers contacting estate agents to view houses for sale jumped 19% from a year ago since the BOE decision on Aug. 1, an acceleration from the 11% increase across the month of July. The number of sellers coming to market also rose by 5% compared to a year earlier.
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The leader of Nottingham City Council has warned another ‘bankruptcy’ notice could be issued if the authority does not make cuts to its libraries and other services, WestBridgfordWire.com reported. In November last year the Labour-run council issued a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy, because it could not set a balanced budget. Government-appointed commissioners arrived in February, and the authority was granted Exceptional Financial Support, allowing it to use asset sales to fund day-to-day operational costs.
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Derby dance organisation Deda is “with a heavy heart” entering into voluntary insolvency, BBC.com reported. The charity which runs the dance and movement venue in Chapel Street said that it was “impossible” to continue in its current financial situation.
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Half of UK Bible colleges to close in next two years A prediction by Dr Anthony Royle, Director of King’s Evangelical Divinity School (KEDS), the Lodi Valley News reported. According to Royle, the Association of Bible College Directors warned of widespread bankruptcy. This reality is also due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic crisis and increasing secularism. Currently, there are about 50 Bible colleges in England. Many face serious challenges. Some have already closed recently, such as St. John’s in Nottingham and Redcliffe College in Gloucestershire.
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Britain's economy recorded a second quarter of strong growth as it recovered from last year's shallow recession but it lost momentum as it entered the second half of 2024, suggesting the Bank of England remains on course to cut interest rates again, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product grew 0.6% in the second quarter of 2024 after a 0.7% expansion in the first quarter which was the fastest in more than two years, the Office for National Statistics said.
A former investment firm director has been handed stringent bankruptcy restrictions extended to the maximum of 15 years “to prevent him causing further harm to the public,” the U.K.’s Insolvency Service said in a statement on 12 August, the International Adviser reported. Derby-based Andrew Paul Bird defrauded 13 different parties in an investment scam between 2011 and 2016. The Official Receiver discovered he had knowingly misled investors and exposed them to the risk of losing money for his personal gain, the statement said.
British consumer price inflation increased for the first time this year in July, official figures showed on Wednesday, but the rise was smaller than expected as services prices — closely watched by the Bank of England — rose less rapidly, Reuters reported. The annual rate of consumer price inflation increased to 2.2% after two months at the Bank of England's 2% target, the Office for National Statistics said, coming in slightly below the median 2.3% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Sterling fell sharply against the U.S.
The owner of the beauty brand Avon in the U.K., Europe and Latin America has filed for bankruptcy as it tries to off-load more than $1bn of debt, including millions of dollars in liabilities linked to lawsuits alleging that talc in its products caused cancer, The Guardian reported. Avon Products Inc., a subsidiary of Brazil’s Natura, which bought Avon’s non-North American trading businesses in 2020, has filed for chapter 11, the American version of administration. API said that the process would allow it to address its debt obligations in an “orderly manner”.