Inflation
Inflation has significant implications for the UK jewellery trade, affecting everything from raw material costs to consumer spending habits. For jewellers, suppliers, and manufacturers, understanding how inflation influences pricing, margins, and operational decisions is critical to staying resilient in a shifting economic climate. Jewellery Focus provides expert coverage on inflation trends, market analysis, and insights into strategies trade professionals are adopting to mitigate its impact across the supply chain and retail sector.
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Feb- 2022 -3 FebruaryNews
BoE raises interest rates to 0.5%
The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates for the second time in three months to 0.5%, up from 0.25% previously. The BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) confirmed it voted by a majority of 5-4 to increase Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 0.5%. Interestingly, it revealed those…
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Jan- 2022 -19 JanuaryCurrent Affairs
Inflation hits 30-year high
Inflation reached 5.4% in December, its highest rate since CPIH stood at 5.1% in May 1992, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It revealed the consumer prices index including owner occupiersโ housing costs (CPIH) rose 4.8% in the 12 months to December 2021, up…
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Oct- 2021 -27 OctoberEconomy
Chancellor unveils 50% rates discount for Retail, Hospitality and Leisureย
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a 50% discount on business rates for the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors (up to ยฃ110,000), equating to a business tax cut worth ยฃ1.7bn, 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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Apr- 2021 -29 AprilEconomy
Global gold jewellery demand climbs 52%
The volume of gold jewellery purchased by global consumers has reportedly increased by 477.4 tonnes (t) year-on-year for Q1 2021, representing an annual rise in value of 52%. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), the increase in demand can be attributed to a decline in the price of gold…
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Jun- 2020 -3 JuneCoronavirus
Biggest decline in shop prices since 2006
May shop prices tumbled at the fastest rate of decline since 2006, falling by 2.4% against a 1.7% decrease in April.ย ย This was โlargelyโ driven by a sharp fall in non-food prices, which fell โsharplyโ by 4.6% in the period, compared to a decline of 3.6% the month prior. This…
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Mar- 2020 -11 MarchBusiness Bites
ROUNDUP: Business rates holiday announced by chancellor Sunak
In his maiden budget, the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a ยฃ30bn fiscal stimulus package to help combat the impact of coronavirus on the British economy including a one-year total suspension of business rates for small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. Headline measures include: A ยฃ12bn plan to provide…
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Feb- 2020 -10 FebruaryAnalysis
Ocado ditches Waitrose; Bill gates orders ยฃ500m beast-yacht; Boris to lower immigration wage threshold
A busy start to the week in the business pages. As the coronavirus story unfolds I am reluctant to spend every day providing updates on it, but it is worth noting quickly that there is likely to be some worldwide economic turbulence due to the latest developments. A slew of…
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Jan- 2020 -15 JanuaryAnalysis
Boohoo more valuable than M&S โ a sea-change encapsulated
From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto clichรฉ to refer to Marks and Spencer as the โhigh street bellwetherโ, yet that is the status it has held for so many decades. The once mighty monolith was the first British retailer to reach a market capitalisation of…
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9 JanuaryAnalysis
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyoneโs undoing?
Itโs not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwetherโs ranges were โtoo…
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Nov- 2019 -1 NovemberEconomy
Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform โbrokenโ business rates
The government has been urged to fix the โbrokenโ business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
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