NEWS BULLETIN

WHAT RECESSION?

The governor of the Bank of England has told Sky News he expects inflation to fall ‘rapidly” in just weeks - but warned two-thirds of the pain from interest rate rises is yet to come. Andrew Bailey made the comments after interest rates were increased for a record-breaking 12th successive time, lifting the cost of borrowing to 4.5% earlier in May. The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee also predicted there would be no recession this year, upgrading its economic growth forecasts by more than in any of its previous reports.

Confidence High

Business confidence reached its highest level since May last year as bosses become more optimistic about the wider economy, a new survey has found.

Confidence reached 33% on the monthly index in April, up from 32% in March, the latest sentiment index by Lloyds Bank showed. The majority of businesses expect to increase their prices in the coming year, and 47% state they are looking to recruit, marking the fifth consecutive month that anticipated staffing levels have increased.

Linkedin Cuts

LinkedIn has become the latest in a long line of tech companies to announce job cuts. The networking app said it will cut 716 roles as it phases out its app in China. Ryan Roslansky, CEO of the company said the decision to close the app was due to ‘fierce competition and a challenging macro economic climate.’ Microsoft, LinkedIn’s partner company, has announced plans to pay off 10,000 jobs, close to 5% of its global workforce.

Uk Top Ten

The Brand Finance UK 250 has revealed the top UK companies brand value:

1. Shell £40.1 bn

2. EY £21.4 bn

3. pwc £21.2 bn

4. HSBC £16.5 bn

5. Vodafone £14.0 bn

6. BP £13.9 bn

7. KPMG £12.3 bn

8. Tesco £11.8 bn

9. Barclays £10.3 bn

10. Sky £8.6 bn