Move by smaller rival Non-Standard Finance has backing of key shareholder
Provident Financial, the doorstep lender that charges interest rates of 535%, has received a surprise £1.3bn takeover bid from a smaller rival led by its former chief executive.
The unsolicited bid for the “Provvy” from Non-Standard Finance (NSF), run by...
GDP contracts by 0.4% in December in weakest year for growth since 2012
The British economy plunged into reverse in December, with a broad-based slump in economic output completing the weakest year for growth since 2012.
The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product contracted by 0.4% from the previous month, fuelled...
From the devaluation of sterling in 1967 to Brexit uncertainty, our economics commentator reflects on how Britain has diced with fiscal catastrophe
I wanted to be a journalist from an early age – the age when most of my (male) contemporaries out there in west Wimbledon had set their...
Bank cuts growth forecast for 2019 as Brexit worries spread from companies to consumers
The Bank of England has warned the economy is on course for its weakest year since the global financial crisis, as evidence suggests Brexit jitters are spreading from companies to consumers.
In its latest quarterly health check, the...
Toxic politics in the US and UK mean a competent response to a crash is far from certain
Adecade on from the 2008 global financial crisis, policymakers constantly assure us that the system is much safer today. The giant banks at the core of the meltdown have scaled back their risky bets, and everyone –...
Whether polar or recessionary, you can be sure they’re extremely unpleasant
Ah well, I suppose in these fractious times that we must take our comforts where we can find them – and so we must look to Italy and the prognostications of my favourite hyperbolic economic commentator, who never fails...
Its populist leaders said they were on the cusp of an economic miracle to rival the 1960s, but debt and uncertainty intervened
Sharing his predictions on the economy less than a month ago, Luigi Di Maio, the Italian deputy prime minister, believed the country was on the cusp of an...
Hard Brexit is only the latest example where the British economy has taken second place to pride and party loyalty
A no-deal Brexit is just another cataclysmic event among many in Britain’s recent history. That’s why there is a good chance it’s going to happen.
The economy, unfortunately, has usually taken...
High employment rates gloss over a ‘much more complicated story’ of stagnant wages and vanishing mid-level jobs
January marked the 100th consecutive month of job creation in the United States – a record breaking streak of job creation that has left employers scrambling to find workers and dragged the long-term unemployed...
Some people call for a town of culture award, but smaller communities should be able to benefit too
• Phil Redmond is chair of the UK City of Culture independent advisory panel, and a TV screenwriter who created Brookside and Hollyoaks
Another year over, a new one just begun, sang one of Liverpool’s...