A 'significant and sustained' downturn in the economy has prompted the call from manufacturers, while struggling small businesses say that Chancellor Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget stimulus package does not go far enough.
The market is already anticipating another significant reduction in borrowing costs after last month's surprise 1.5 percentage point drop in the base rate.
City opinion [...]
The Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report included the expected inflationary rise in the State pension from £90.70 to £95.25 a week for a single person and from £145.05 to £152.30 for a couple, starting in April, but also a headline-grabbing £60 bonus to be paid to all pensioners in January on top of the usual [...]
Is there an easy way to calculate how long it would take to see the benefits of delaying my pension so I can compare the options? R.M., Exeter
Des Hamilton, technical director at the Pensions Advisory Service, replies: The choices available to you are to stop working and claim the state pension; [...]
John Duffield's struggling group said it was in 'advanced and constructive discussions' over its crippling £230m mountain of debt.
The request for shares to be suspended was made at the all-time low of just 14p this morning, having crashed 97% from a peak of 485p just 18 months ago. After the request was denied by [...]
Punitive increases announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in his Pre-Budget Report last week will hit those earning more than £140,000 hardest.
From 2011, big cuts in personal allowances and an increase in the top rate to 45p will effectively push the rate of tax for those on £140,000 to 60p in the pound - the [...]
But Alistair Darling's mini-Budget came with a sting in the tail - higher National Insurance contributions and tax rises for the relatively well-off. Here, Financial Mail examines the impact of the Chancellor's action on families.
Cash-strapped families were given an early Christmas present from the Chancellor as he increased child benefit payments three [...]
A rally in the price of gold over the past month has seen it rise from about $740 per ounce, at the start of November, to $814 this week. And while its value remains under the $840 seen at the beginning of 2008, and considerably below its peak of more than $1,000 in [...]
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