Economy

62% of British SMEs voted to remain in EU

Some 62% of British SMEs voted to remain in the European Union, a recent survey by small business lender Liberis found. According to the survey, the highest earning businesses with a turnover of over £1,000,000 a year voted to leave the EU more than any other, at 30%. At the…

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Significant rise in business confidence

Overall business confidence has risen significantly since the start of the year, according to Lloyds Bank. The latest Business in Britain report from Lloyds Bank, based on data gathered after the snap election was called, showed that the confidence level had increased by 24%. The confidence index – an average…

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Gold hallmarking continues to drop as silver remains strong

The number of gold articles hallmarked in the month of May reported a 14.1% drop when compared to last year’s figures. Figures from the Birmingham Assay Office suggest that silver showed a growing strength with a 24.1% increase in hallmarked articles when compared to the same period last year. Platinum…

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Businesses must “remain resilient” despite political uncertainty

British entrepreneur Cat Paton has said British businesses should “remain resilient” following the hung parliament election result. Following a significant drop in the value of the sterling, Paton, managing director of British marketplace OnBuy, said the currency value may encourage a “renewed focus on trading” within the UK. The pound…

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Businesses unable to cope with interest increases, research shows

One in 25 businesses would be unable to pay off its debts if the interest rates were to increase, research from insolvency trade body R3 has shown. Some 79,000 (4%) UK companies said that a small increase would affect them financially, almost a quadrupling (20,000) of figures from previous research…

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UK consumer set for £3bn bank holiday spend, says Worldpay

UK high street businesses could earn £3bn over the bank holiday weekend, according to data from payments processor Worldpay. Due to the weak pound, Worldpay predicts that British people will choose to spend their long weekend here, resulting in a boost to local businesses. Worldpay data showed that the early…

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Hallmarking down 13% compared to last year

Hallmarking figures for the month of April has shown a 13.2% decrease when compared to the same period last year. Figures from the Birmingham Assay office showed there was a decrease among all metals apart from silver, which saw an increase of 19.2%. There were 62,636 more silver pieces hallmarked…

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DiamondCorp goes into administration

DiamondCorp has announced that it has gone into administration, leaving the future of the company in the hands of practitioners. Stephen Cork and Jo Milner of London-based advisory firm Cork Gully are now joint administrators of the rough diamond company. In a statement released this week, it said that its…

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UK high street sees increase in card payments

There was an increase in payments made with debit and credit cards in the first quarter of the year, data from payment processor, Worldpay, has revealed. The UK high street saw an overall average year-on-year increase of 1.5% in card payments. Worldpay suggest that this is due to the weakening…

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Global gold demand drops by 18%

The global gold demand in Q1 of 2017 has dropped by 18% when compared to last year, according to the World Gold Council’s latest Gold Demand Trends report. While inflows into exchange traded funds (ETFs) were solid, the demand couldn’t match 2016’s “exceptionally high” Q1. European-listed products were the most…

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