Thursday newspaper round-up: business confidence, car industry, John Lewis
Britain’s economy is bouncing back from the slump in business confidence which struck in the wake of the Brexit vote, with services, manufacturing and construction firms all reporting solid growth in the final months of 2016. At the same time the housing market showed signs of recovery, with sales on the up and construction firms receiving more orders as demand for homes rises. Businesses across the economy reported rising confidence in the final quarter of the year, making them more willing to hire and invest, according to a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce. – Telegraph
Bosses at now-collapsed cruise firm All Leisure Group paid themselves almost £1m in 2015, despite the struggling owner of the Swan Hellenic brand posting profits of less than £550,000 in the same period. About 400 holidaymakers have been left in chaos abroad after the troubled business, which counted former P&O chairman Lord Sterling as its second-biggest shareholder, ceased trading on Wednesday. – Telegraph
The government has moved to crack down on unscrupulous employers by appointing a new boss to lead the collection of government bodies tasked with stamping out exploitation in the workplace. Prof Sir David Metcalf, a founding member of the Low Pay Commission and former chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee, was named on Thursday as the first director of Labour Market Enforcement. – Guardian
The British car industry has warned of a sales downturn this year as the economic uncertainty that followed the Brexit vote kicks in. A fifth consecutive year of growth saw nearly 2.7m new car registrations in the UK last year, a rise of 2.2% on 2015. But the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said it expected growth to reverse, with a sales decline of 5-6%, as the cost of new cars rises due to sterling’s fall. An end to cheap financing deals would also hit sales, it said. – Guardian
Three top investment bankers at a boutique St James’s firm have shared almost £37 million after advising on a string of the biggest takeover deals of recent years. Robey Warshaw, founded only three years ago, has increased its operating profit by 89 per cent in the year to the end of March, accounts filed at Companies House show. – The Times
Sales at John Lewis soared in the week before Christmas as shoppers made last-minute purchases, but they dropped sharply last week as the timing of bank holidays hit trading. The department stores chain said that it had generated total weekly sales of £175.6 million in the seven-day run-up to Christmas, up 36 per cent year-on-year. Yet trade fell to £138.5 million, down 9.4 per cent, in the final week of December, when the sales began, as the timing of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, which fell on weekends, meant that most John Lewis stores were closed. – The Times