Economy

Chancellor unveils 50% rates discount for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a 50% discount on business rates for the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors (up to £110,000), equating to a business tax cut worth £1.7bn, the biggest single-year rates cut for firms in over 30 years. Unveiling his latest Budget in the Commons today (27 October),…

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Hallmarking climbs 64.4% in September

The total number of hallmarked pieces climbed 64.4% to 1,009,071 in September 2021, up from 613,679 for the same period in 2020. According to the Birmingham Assay Office, silver saw the largest increase in hallmarked pieces, jumping 104.1% year-on-year. While the 584,551 hallmarked silver pieces in September 2021 represented the…

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Hallmarking climbs 84.5% in August

The total number of hallmarked pieces climbed 84.5% to 784,078 in August 2021, up from 424,994 in August 2020. According to the Birmingham Assay Office, silver saw the largest increase in hallmarket pieces, jumping 87% year-on-year. While the 380,797 hallmarked silver pieces in August 2021 represented the largest volume of…

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UK economic growth slows, ONS reveals

UK economic growth slowed down in July, growing by 0.1% compared with 1% in June 2021, according to the latest data by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). With the spread of the Delta variant and the “pingdemic” taking its hold in July, gross domestic product (GDP) still remains 2.1%…

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Retail sales growth slows in July

Retail sales volumes fell by 2.5% between June and July 2021, as rainy weather and last month’s ‘pingdemic’ dampened demand from consumers.   Nonetheless, sales were still up by 5.2% in the three months to July against the previous three months, and 5.8% higher than their pre-pandemic February 2020 levels, according…

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Unemployment falls to 4.7% as job vacancies hit record high

UK unemployment fell to 4.7% for the quarter to 30 June 2021, a drop of 0.2% when compared to the previous three month period. According to the ONS, this was coupled by a 0.3% rise in the UK employment rate to 75.1% in the same period, closing the gap with…

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Hallmarking up 107.4% in June

The total number of pieces hallmarked in June 2021 soared 107.4% when compared with June 2020, according to the latest figures from the Birmingham Assay Office. Some 672,021 pieces were hallmarked in June 2021, compared with 323,967 pieces in June last year.  Gold hallmarked pieces for June sat at 321,318…

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Hallmarking up 212% in May

The total number of pieces hallmarked in May of 2021 soared by 212% when compared with May 2020 during the first lockdown, according to the latest figures from the Birmingham Assay Office. Some 496,964 pieces were hallmarked in May 2021, up from the 159,299 pieces hallmarked in May of last…

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Hallmarking up 4.1% YTD

The total number of pieces hallmarked for the first four months of 2021 increased 4.1%, according to the latest figures from the Birmingham Assay Office. While a year-on-year comparison cannot be made between April 2020 and April 2021 due to Assay Office closures, a year-on-year comparison for the year-to-date can…

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UK economy shrinks 1.5% in Q1 despite signs of recovery

The UK economy shrank by 1.5% during the first three months of the year due to the impact of the national lockdown. According to the latest figures by the ONS however, the contraction shows a marked improvement on the first lockdown last year when gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by…

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