Only one in seven deals on Black Friday offers a genuine discount, with the vast majority of promotions cheaper or the same price in the six months before the sales event, an investigation has found.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Fears of tougher restrictions sweep China after first Covid death in months
Fears of tougher restrictions have reignited across China today, after the country recorded its first Covid-19 death in six months.
Appetite for UK bonds grows after mini-budget led investors to dump gilts
The appetite for UK bonds has staged a tentative recovery in the weeks since Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget caused investors to dump gilts at the fastest rate in decades.
Bank of England delays plans for move to Leeds
The Bank of England has delayed plans to move hundreds of staff from London to Leeds as the wider economic turmoil slows the institution’s plans to expand its operations outside the capital.
Strikes to hit airports and ports over Christmas
Major ports and airports are set to be disrupted by strikes over the Christmas period.
Economic climate holding back sustainability strategy for seven-in-ten manufacturers
Almost seventy per cent of manufacturing decision makers agree that their sustainability strategy has been restricted due to cost pressures.
Twitter has ‘50% chance’ of major crash during World Cup
Twitter stands a 50% chance of a major outage that could take the site offline during the World Cup, according to a recently departed employee with knowledge of how the company responds to large-scale events.
Train cancellations in the UK have hit their highest level on record
Rail cancellations have reached their highest level on record with more than 314,000 trains fully or partly cancelled across the UK in a year.
Insolvencies surge in hospitality sector as higher costs bite
The hospitality sector is buckling from a “toxic mix” of headwinds as higher labour and energy costs combined with a slowdown in consumer spending lead to a surge in insolvencies.
Labour shortages are holding Britain back, CBI to tell Sunak
Rishi Sunak will be told by business leaders today to increase migration to tackle “vast” labour shortages and avoid a “dormant economic decade”.
Mike Ashley scores in £17m deal to buy Coventry Arena securing 1,000 local jobs
The former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has taken over the Coventry Building Society Arena after buying its three operating companies.
Business rates relief will give £14bn back to pubs, restaurants and small high street shops
Thousands of shops, pubs and restaurants are in line for £14 billion in relief aimed at countering next year’s rise in business rates, but the government stopped short of more fundamental reform of the tax.
Twitter shuts offices as hundreds of staff quit after Musk ultimatum
Hundreds of Twitter employees were said to have left the business rather than sign up to Elon Musk’s new “hardcore” working culture last night.
Parcel firms still responsible for dodgy deliveries according to Citizens Advice league table scores
Internet shoppers are still enduring “dodgy deliveries”, with the courier companies Yodel and Evri the worst of a bad bunch, according to Citizens Advice.
Average household energy bills to hit £3,000 a year after April
Household energy bills will rise by 20 per cent on average to £3,000 next April after the government said it would only partially continue subsidising higher prices.
