Scottish Budget Update
On 28 January 2021, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Kate Forbes, set out the government’s proposed spending and tax plans for 2021/22. Speaking almost a year after Scotland’s first COVID-19 case was identified, she told MSPs that the “pandemic has shaken our society and economy to the core.” Ms Forbes stated that the Budget would […]
New investors spring into action
With interest rates plummeting to record lows, savers are discovering that cash is not always king. This is encouraging a new band of investors to dip their toes in the investment market. While some families have suffered financially during the pandemic, many have saved significant sums due to a reduction in spending on non-essential items. […]
Economic Review – March 2021
BoE: Outlook ‘unusually uncertain’ The Bank of England (BoE) has expressed growing confidence that a near-term recovery is gathering pace, although policymakers appear split over the country’s longer-term economic prospects. Gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the UK economy shrank by 2.9% in January as the third […]
Hopes of a “swifter and more sustained economic recovery”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered his second Budget on 3 March, which centred on a three-part plan to continue supporting people and businesses through the pandemic, to fix public finances once recovery is underway and to lay the foundations for the future economy. The Chancellor opened his statement by revealing the latest predictions […]
Struggling to save for retirement? Try this tip
More than ever, UK savers are struggling to prioritise their pension, with over half saying they are likely to review or reduce their pension contributions in the wake of the pandemic1. It’s true that it can be easy to think of pension contributions as a drain on your resources. And yet, despite travel restrictions, Britons […]
In the News
UK to launch first green gilt The government is planning to launch the UK’s first green gilt in 2021 in response to “growing investor demand,” as announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. He said it would be the first in a series of new issuances, with the government keen to position the UK as a world-leading […]
Economic Review – February 2021
UK economy poised for recovery Although the latest gross domestic product (GDP) statistics revealed the UK suffered a record slump in 2020, there are now growing hopes the economy is on the cusp of recovery. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed the UK endured a record fall in output last year […]
Spring Budget 2021
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered his second Budget on 3 March declaring that “we will recover“. The key fiscal event, which had been delayed from the Autumn due to the pandemic, centred on a £65bn three-part plan designed to continue supporting British people and businesses through the pandemic, ‘fix’ the public finances once […]
Property Market Review – February 2021
Widening disparity between commercial property sectors In its latest ‘UK Commercial Property Survey‘, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors clearly emphasise the continuing outperformance of the industrial sector, with both investor and occupier demand strengthening in the final quarter of last year, in every region of the UK. Interestingly, investment enquiries for UK industrial assets […]
Child talk
It’s difficult to quantify the impact of the pandemic on children. Let’s face it, their lives changed beyond recognition overnight too, the regular rhythms of childhood and adolescence gone indefinitely. A survey exploring what made children feel stressed during lockdown discovered that not having enough money or food featured, alongside schoolwork, family life and other […]