Economy
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Dec- 2022 -6 December
Footfall rises 5.4% amid ‘cause for optimism’, Springboard says
Footfall rose by +5.4% across all UK retail destinations last week from the week before, with increases across all three key destination types (+6.9% in high streets, +4.8% in shopping centres and +3% in retail parks), according to Springboard. Springboard said this offers a “cause for some optimism” for retailers…
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Nov- 2022 -25 November
Black Friday footfall up 4.6% on 2021
Results for the period up to 12pm on Black Friday, 25 November, showed that footfall across all UK retail destinations is +7.3% higher than last Friday, according to Springboard. The winners so far were shopping centres where footfall is +13.9% higher than last week. Footfall is higher than last year…
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17 November
Natural Diamond Council launches Assure 2.0 portal
The Natural Diamond Council has announced the launch of the new Assure 2.0 online portal. The updated portal aims to enable all purchasers of diamond verification instruments to browse through the directory, understand the features and analyse the results of the new series of Assure testing. The Assure 2.0 portal…
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Oct- 2022 -19 October
Hallmarking drops -15.8% in September
The total number of hallmarked pieces during September 2022 dropped by -15.8% year-on-year from 1,009,071 to 849,351, marking a decrease of -159,720, according to the latest figures from the four UK Assay offices. Overall, gold pieces dropped -1.1% in September from 390,638 to 386,433, and silver declined by -26.6% from…
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17 October
City centre footfall increases as workers return to the office
Footfall across UK retail destinations rose marginally by +0.8% last week from the week before as performance was boosted by the return of office workers in city centres, according to the latest data from Springboard. The rise in footfall of +1.6% in high streets from the week before was predominantly…
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17 October
Chancellor reverses almost all mini-budget tax cuts
Newly appointed chancellor Jeremy Hunt has reversed almost all of the mini-budget commitments made by previous chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last month, in a statement made at the Treasury today (17 October). He confirmed the basic rate of income tax will remain at 20% “indefinitely” until the economic situation stabilises, marking…
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7 October
De Beers Group venture appoints new CEO
Debmarine Namibia, the diamond recovery joint venture owned in equal shares by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group, announced the appointment of Willy Mertens as its new chief executive officer, with effect from 1 November 2022. Mertens will succeed Otto Shikongo, who retires from the…
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6 October
Footfall slows to +6.8% in September
UK footfall slowed for the third consecutive month and now sits just 6.8% compared with the same period in 202, as the rising cost of living cuts consumer visits according to the latest data from Springboard. Springboard revealed that superficially September’s results suggest that footfall has largely been unaffected by…
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Sep- 2022 -23 September
Consumer confidence plummets to record low in September
UK consumer confidence has plummeted to a record low of -49% in September, the lowest since 1974, according to the latest research from GfK. It comes amid the cost of living crisis as households struggle with soaring energy bills and inflation. Four measures were down in comparison to the 19…
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23 September
Chancellor announces sweeping tax cuts in first mini-budget
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has today (23 September) announced a ream of tax cuts alongside a £60bn energy support package as part of the new government’s first mini-budget. Setting out his aims for economic growth, Kwarteng said that he wants the economy to increase by 2.5% annually in the medium-term, through…
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