INDIVIDUAL INSOLVENCIES
There were 27,087 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2008 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 8.8% on the previous quarter and an increase of 4.6% on the same period a year ago. 
This was made up of 17,341 bankruptcies (which were up 12.1% on the [...]

Professor David Blanchflower a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has spoken out claiming that the financial meltdown we are experiencing at present may be longer and more far reaching than the 1929 stock market crash. He is advocating a big cut in interest rates and he may well get his wish today. [...]

Tuning in to the Today programme this morning I learned that the Government had announced its latest rescue package for UK banks.
The Government is going to make £50b available for banks to access if they require funds to shore up their capital. This is likely to be in the form of preference shares. The first [...]

Further evidence of the squeeze in consumer spending can be seen in the latest figures releases from the Charity Shops Survey 2008. As High Street retailers chase shoppers charity shops are booming.
Recent figures from the British Retail Consortium show that retail sales values were down almost 1% from July 2008. Whilst in total retail [...]

It was always coming but now we have the data which confirms once and for all that economic growth in the UK has ground to a halt between April and June.
The Office for National Statistics has reported that economic growth was non-existent in this latest quarter. This puts the MPC in a real dilemma as [...]

HBOS has announced to the stockmarket that its profits before tax have fallen 72% in the first six months of the year.
Blame has been out on the credit crunch and the worsening economic climate. HBOS stated that the rise in energy costs coupled with a housing slowdown will mean that things will deteriorate even [...]

A Petrol Price war has begun among the UK’s leading supermarkets as they battle for market share.
In announcements hours of each other Asda said it would cut the price of unleaded petrol and diesel by 3 pence per litre, while Morrisons responded with it’s own press release saying that it would cut both prices by [...]

With The property market having slowed to snails pace, you need to be smart to sell your property, these 10 tips will help set you apart and give you a better chance of selling on a tight market.
 
Get cleaning. As obvious as it sounds you need to make sure that those areas on view are [...]

First Oil and Now Gas
Centrica, the owner of British Gas is reporting that customers who have already seen their energy bills shoot up by 15 per cent this year, will have to deal with a further 70 per cent rise and consistently high prices due to soaring oil prices.
Jake Ulrich, Centrica’s Managing Director, said that [...]

The MPC has made the decision that had been widely expected, to hold interest rates at 5%. This was despite calls from business leaders to cut borrowing costs amid growing concerns about the economic slowdown.
The news has been full of reports suggesting the UK was at risk of recession. This week there have been major [...]