Economy
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Dec- 2017 -12 December
Inflation rises to its highest level for six years
Inflation rose to 3.1% in the month of November, figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed. According to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), this was up from the 3% level seen in October, and is its highest level since March 2012. More expensive recreational goods – namely…
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11 December
UK consumer spending set to be lowest since 2012
Consumer spending over the Christmas period is expected to be at its lowest since 2012, according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index. Spending on the high street fell year-on-year for the seventh month in a row, dropping by 3.5%. This followed a 5.1% decrease in October, two of the worst…
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11 December
More support needed for SMEs due to bank closures, says FSB
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling for more support for small businesses following a slew of bank branch closures. The comments come after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced it will close 259 high street branches as “more people choose to bank online or via mobile”. Mike Cherry,…
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Nov- 2017 -17 November
Palladium hallmarking suffers drop as silver stays strong in October
Silver was the only metal to see a year-on-year rise in the hallmarking figures for October, with a 25% growth. All other precious metals saw a drop in hallmarked articles, with palladium experiencing the biggest fall of 34.7%. Gold fell by 8.4% when compared to the same period last year,…
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8 November
Spending growth slows to 2.4% as consumers feel ‘inflation squeeze’
Consumer spending growth slowed to 2.4% year-on-year in October which, with inflation at 3%, equated to a contraction in real terms. Brits cut back across the board to cope with their diminished spending power, and in anticipation of a potential interest rate hike. Data from Barclaycard revealed that spending on…
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Oct- 2017 -19 October
UK retail sales growth slows more than expected
UK retail sales growth slowed more than predicted in the month of September, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The figures showed that total sales fell by 0.8% when compared with August, making it much lower than the 0.1% drop that was expected. Year-on-year retail growth for Q3…
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17 October
Gold hallmarking continues to fall as silver and platinum remain strong
The number of gold articles hallmarked in the month of September have dropped by 21.6%, when compared with the same period last year. This has brought the figure for the total number of metals hallmarked down by a relatively marginal 3.7%. This is partially due to the strength of silver…
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12 October
London top for diamond retail, says report
The Global Diamond Retail Market, new research conducted by diamond retailer Samer Halimeh NY revealed that London has become the ‘go-to’ city for diamond retailing. The study also suggested that it was essential for luxury diamond retailers to have a shop or brand presence in the capital. The research was…
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5 October
Dash sponsors NAJ to promote digital currency to UK jewellery industry
A new cryptocurrency brand called Dash has been named as the Headline Sponsor at the National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) Awards in December 2017. The startup is looking to promote itself to UK jewellers and gold dealers, in hopes of becoming a common form of exchange in the UK. The…
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3 October
Silver brings hallmarking up for August
The number of silver articles hallmarked in the month of August brought overall figures into the black when compared to the same time last year. Overall, there was a 7.9% increase in the number of metals hallmarked. There were 468,460 silver articles hallmarked, up 132,361 from the 336,099 articles form…
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