Improvement in High Street sales seen in June

According to recently released figures June saw an improvement in High Street sales levels, partly fuelled by consumers heading out to buy new clothes following the short but significant heat wave seen during that period. Read more

Tags: homeware, shopping, high street sales, High Street, addition, consumer spending

How bleak is the future for the UK?

Many people were horrified to learn recently that whilst many major economies are going through a severe downturn and recession, the UK is expected to be the hardest hit of the major economies, which is of course bad news for UK consumers and businesses. Read more

Tags: number, uk jobs, British Chambers of Commerce, uk consumers, twenty years, confidence levels

BCC states that interest rate must be cut

After several months where the interest rate has been left on hold at 5% by the Monetary Policy Committee and the Bank of England, the British Chambers of Commerce is now calling for action, stating that the base rate has to be cut in order to ensure that the economy does not grind to a halt. The government is facing tough decisions when it comes to the base rate, as the nation is going through a period of stagflation, where the economy has slowed down and stagnated and the level of inflation is soaring way out of control. Read more

Tags: British Chambers of Commerce, interest rates, chelsea building society, UK unemployment, consumer spending, base, interest rate, bank of england

Was the Bank of England right to keep interest rates on hold?

Following the five interest rate rises that took place between August 2006 and July 2007 the whole country seemed to breathe a sigh if relief when in December of last year the base rate was cut for the first time in two years. Another base rate cut quickly followed in February, and a further one in April. By this time many analysts and economists were wildly enthusing over how quickly and by how much interest rate were likely to come down, with some predicting that rates would fall to below 4% by the end of the year. Read more

Tags: interest rates, British Retail Consortium, CBI, bank of england, British Chambers of Commerce