The Office for National Statistics has finally put an end to speculation and confirmed that the UK was in a technical recession in the second half of 2023. Forecasts for a recovery are muted, with the EY Item Club and the IMF predicting growth in 2024 of 0.9% and 0.6% respectively. Corporate insolvencies hit an all time high of 26,595
What next for the UK economy now we’re in a recession? Economists need ponder no longer, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) finally confirmed that Q4 2023 saw a fall in GDP adding to the negative outturn for Q3, thereby creating a recession which government sources dismiss as no more than ‘technical’. What it certainly counts as is ‘shallow’ by
The construction industry had a total labour force of 2.15m in Q2 2023, equivalent to some 7% of the total UK labour force. This compares with the pre-pandemic level of 2.3m in Q1 2020 and the peak over the past twenty-five years of 2.6m in Q3 2008 just as the global financial crisis was starting. The employment trend can be
The Insolvency Service reported recently that 88 company insolvencies were recorded in Scotland in January 2024, which is 19% lower than the number in the previous January. This amounted to 34 compulsory liquidations, 46 creditor voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 7 administrations and one CVA. January statistics on their own should not be regarded as a typical bellwether when trying to understand
Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover or guess a packaged gift from its shape, assessing the commercial risk of trading with a construction company by the figures in its balance sheet will not reveal the whole story. You also need to understand the company’s business model and the degree of ‘subjective’ valuation it creates. Here, we
On 25 May 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) wrote to all of the UK’s authorised loan-based peer-to-peer (“P2P”) crowding platforms, to express its concern about areas of potential harm for investors (i.e. lenders). Amongst the four areas listed was the adequacy of current wind-down plans (WDPs), their triggers, and liquidity monitoring. In its latest communication to the P2P sector
