The glitzy Victoria Square development, boasting two skyscrapers and a new Hilton Hotel, was to be a new landmark for the London commuter town of Woking. Instead, it stands as a monument to how financial bets by local councils can go badly wrong, Bloomberg News reported. The hotel is yet to open its doors. Work to replace unsafe cladding on the outside of the building, which dominates the skyline of the town of 100,000 people, will only be completed this summer, almost four years after the complex’s scheduled opening was blown off track by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The UK’s audit and accountancy regulator has opened an investigation into an accountant following solar farm investments made by a now bankrupt local authority, Bloomberg News reported. The Financial Reporting Council is looking into the conduct of one of its members in relation to the activities of Thurrock Council, the watchdog said Wednesday. Thurrock Council, in Essex to the east of London, put hundreds of millions of pounds into solar energy only to later seek a government bailout when the investments soured.
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Britain's economy ended 2023 on a stronger footing than previously thought, according to a survey of businesses, amid other signs that the Bank of England's high interest rate campaign might not trigger a recession, Reuters reported. With Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hoping for better economic news before an election expected later this year, Thursday's data suggested businesses and households are weathering the storm of high inflation and borrowing costs at a 15-year peak.
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U.K. long-end bonds are among the hardest hit by the downturn in global debt markets, as investors make room for a slate of gilt sales later this month, Bloomberg News reported. The yield on 30-year U.K. government notes has risen 14 basis points in the first two trading days of the year, more than U.S. and German equivalents. The bonds have also underperformed short-end ones, sending the yield premium over five-year notes to the highest in almost a year and a half. Investors are ditching long-end gilts ahead of the U.K.
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The power grid in the United Kingdom can’t keep up with demand for connections, and local planning authorities can block new construction for years. Overcoming these roadblocks, however, has gained essential support. In the countryside of Cambridgeshire, a British semiconductor start-up was ready to expand beyond its lab and open a manufacturing base. But the company’s ambitions came with unexpected costs to bring enough electricity to the new site. The potential bill? One million pounds, the New York Times reported.
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In the intricate web of multinational ownership, the renowned retail giant Selfridges lands in a precarious situation. This iconic department store, situated on London’s bustling Oxford Street, is now seeking additional financial support from its parent company, Central Group, BNNBreaking.com reported. This pressing need emerges as one of its major stakeholders, Signa, flounders in the murky waters of insolvency. The owner of Selfridges, Cambridge Properties Holding Limited, is currently in active discussions with the Thai-based Central Group.
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The new findings warn that almost 30,000 businesses will go bankrupt in 2024, with the vast majority being small companies, BusinessNews.com reported. PwC experts claim there will be a 'significant' increase in businesses collapsing, with companies in the hotels and catering, manufacturing, and transport and storage sectors likely to suffer the most. The findings said that the impact of high energy prices, sluggish economic growth and high interest rates is likely to hit again this year.
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Nottingham Council has been slapped down by the head of a new local government watchdog, which said that councils are going bankrupt because of poor financial management, not a lack of money, GB News reported. Nottingham Council, which declared effective bankruptcy earlier this year, cited the impact of inflation as a cause. It also blamed increased demand for children's and adults' social care and rising homelessness.
Opposition councillors have warned that the ruling Conservatives at County Hall have risked the financial future of the authority in their determination to get the proposed 3.9-mile road built, the Eastern Daily Press reported. They say that Norfolk County Council has now committed so much cash to the project that if it does not now go ahead, the authority would not be able to balance the books. It comes at a time when a number of English councils have been forced to effectively declare themselves bankrupt because of their financial dire straits.
British shopper numbers at stores on Boxing Day rose from a year earlier, especially in London, research data showed on Wednesday, marking a strong start to the post-Christmas bargain-hunting spree, Reuters reported. Research group MRI Software said footfall rose 4% across all UK retail destinations on Dec. 26. Known in Britain as Boxing Day, the date that traditionally launches high-street sales was in the Victorian era the time when the rich would donate leftover food and goods from Christmas Day festivities to the poor.
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