6:36 am, December 2, 2024
Black Friday spending jumps over a tenth despite quieter high streets
Early Black Friday spending has surged against last year in a welcome boost for under-pressure retailers, although slightly fewer shoppers hit the high street.
Online retailers have witnessed a particular jump in spending as many launched a raft of offers in order to entice shoppers on the busy shopping day.
Nationwide Building Society said that, as of 2pm on Friday, its customers had made 5.24 million transactions – a 12% increase on Black Friday last year. It added that this represents an 18% increase on its average Friday activity.
‘Critical’ mid-market UK firms stifled by red tape and skills gap – NatWest
NatWest has called for more support for thousands of ‘critical’ mid-market companies it says are held back by red tape, planning delays, and restrictions on hiring skilled overseas workers.
Its report into the sector and plans for a new representative council has gained the backing of the government’s business secretary.
NatWest said mid-market companies are the ‘engine of growth’ for the UK economy, but often go unrecognised and overlooked. Analysis by the bank identified a number of challenges facing the mid-market sector which, if addressed, could boost turnover by £115bn by 2030.
Lotus revises its Emira line-up
Lotus has revealed updates to one of its last combustion-powered models, with its Emira sports car.
For 2025, Lotus has decided to give the range of its sports car a refresh and has ditched the First Edition trims and moved to a more conventional, Turbo, Turbo SE and V6.
The Emira Turbo features the four-cylinder turbocharged 360bhp engine and eight-speed DCT gearbox. Standard features include 20-inch 10-spoke lightweight alloy wheels, ‘Emira Turbo’ badging, black brake callipers, black leather interior and 12-way electric seats. The Emira Turbo SE packs 400bhp and gets sports suspension, while the V6 get a limited-slip diff on manual models. Pricing is revealed at the beginning of next year.
Markets
London’s markets finished the week marginally higher despite cautious trading on Friday. The FTSE 100 finished 6.08 points, or 0.07%, higher to end the day at 8,287.30.
The Cac 40 ended 0.78% higher for the day and the Dax index was up 1.04%. Stateside, the US markets opened higher on the back of strong Black Friday spending and a positive session for tech stocks, as part of a half-day trading for Thanksgiving.
The pound was up 0.02% at 1.269 US dollars and up 0.14% at 1.203 euros.
UK pledges further £19m for Gaza Strip
The UK has pledged a further £19m in funding for Gaza, as a minister described the situation on the ground as ‘catastrophic’.
Development minister Anneliese Dodds will travel to the Occupied Palestinan Territories and Israel as part of a three-day trip that starts with a humanitarian conference in Cairo on Monday.
The fresh funding will take the UK’s total committed for the Occupied Palestinan Territories to £99m, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said, and includes £12m for the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme.
Dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings ‘to be fixed within five years’
Dangerous cladding will be fixed on all high-rise buildings on government schemes within the next five years, ministers are to pledge.
The Remediation Acceleration Plan will set out that by the end of 2029, all buildings over 18 metres tall – defined as high-rise – with unsafe cladding that are on a government scheme will have been remediated. Every building over 11 metres tall with unsafe cladding will have been remediated, have a date for completion or landlords will be liable for penalties by the same date.
The deputy prime minister has described the plans as ‘decisive action’, but campaigners have labelled them as ‘extremely disappointing’ proposals that will ‘only make a horribly complicated process worse’.
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Weather
Bright spells for southern England today, reports BBC Weather, while elsewhere it will be a day of cloud and showers – wintry in the northern Scottish hills. Temperatures will be between eight and 10 degrees.
The colder air from the north will push southwards tonight, giving a widespread frost. Winds will ease and it will be a cold night.
