In the 1960s the young never had it so good, so they say, but in the 1990s and 2000s (especially the latter) it seems it’s the old who now enjoy the relative good life. Latest nowcasting data from the ONS, which provides initial estimates of household income indicators, show that the median household disposable income was £26,400 in 2015/16, which in constant price terms, is...
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It is now almost five years since the introduction of the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA) in October 2011 but the expected dramatic decline in law firm numbers post-LSA has not really materialised. Some forecasts were suggesting that thousands of law firms could disappear but the reality has been much less dramatic. In May 2016 there were 10,429 law firms in England and Wales and...
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Domestic Ferries In the first six months of 2016 there were 7.115 million passengers on domestic ferry routes. This was an increase of 3.7% over the same period in 2015. However, the growth was not across the board. It was the total of the Scottish routes counted excluding Northlink that were primarily responsible for the increase. The Isle of Man and Channel Island sectors contracted while the Isle of...
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In 2015, a record of a million port of call cruise passengers visited UK ports. It was a 10% increase on 2014 to reach 1.017 million passengers. The number of port of call visits has increased every year for the last 8 years and unless there is a significant change in underlying trends we should see the million mark exceeded again this year. Click here...
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We commented on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) statistics that showed that inbound tourism by sea increased by 288K visits while outbound tourism by sea in 2015 declined by 237K visits. 44% of sea tourism was inbound in 2015. If the trend continues it will not take long for inbound sea tourism to overtake outbound sea tourism. The run up to the Brexit vote saw...
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Searches on Google.co.uk news shows clearly how Brexit has sparked a concern about recession among UK web searchers. Post-Referendum there has been a spike in searching for both recession and the EU related words and phrases. Brexit, EU and Recession are becoming linked in the minds of UK consumers and businesses. Search for the term Brexit recession and recession on Google.co.uk news Search for...
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It was only around six months ago that the Bank of England in this Financial Stability Report talked of the UK emerging from the financial crisis. Stability was the theme of the report, with the Bank focusing on preventing external economic shocks knocking the UK recovery off course. Fast forward to today and the tone of the Bank’s July 2016 Financial Stability Report could not...
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Our news item in May 2016 highlighted the growth in inbound and outbound UK tourism in recent years with inbound growth in 2015 of 5.1% to reach 31.6 m overseas resident visits and outbound growth of 9.4% to 65.7m visits of UK residents going abroad. A closer look at the International Passenger Survey (IPS) statistics shows that inbound tourism by sea increased by 288K visits...
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Consumers owning defined contribution pensions cashing in their pension pots to buy themselves a Lamborghini was probably the most striking scenario envisioned after the new pension freedoms came into force in 2015. But contrary to this vision, consumers have shown themselves to be far more responsible and rationale with their money. After an initial burst of taking cash from pension pots, the tendency to cash-in...
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In 1965 when the Who sang about their generation and hoped to die before they got old, the future seemed bright for the young generation: it was the era of the teenager. Today, the Who are of the generation which has benefited most from economic growth since the Global Financial crisis, while the young, Generation Rent, face an increasing challenge ever to own their own...
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