BoE chief economist Huw Pill has hinted at a "significant" interest rate rise in November

By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight

Bank of England (BoE) chief economist Huw Pill has hinted at a "significant" interest rate rise in November to shore up the pound because of recent market uncertainty.  Speaking at the CEPR-Barclays International Monetary Policy forum yesterday he said the Monetary Policy Committee "cannot be indifferent" to the repricing of financial assets seen in the last few days. "It is hard not to draw the conclusion that all this will require significant monetary policy response,” he said. “We must be confident in the stability of the UK’s economic framework." He also reiterated the central bank’s commitment to a 2% inflation target. Sterling is falling against the US dollar again this morning, standing at $1.0674 at the time of writing. The FTSE 100 is down 2%.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released a report into why adults aged between 50 and 65 are leaving the workplace. This group continues to drive the increase in economic inactivity. The ONS found that among those who left work since the start of the Covid19 pandemic and had not returned, 36% had retired, mostly within the 60 to 65 age group (48%). Of those aged between 50 and 59 years who left work and not returned, 25% said they retired and 18% wanted a change in lifestyle. 72% said they would consider returning to work. Those who might return to the workplace said that the most important factors that would influence that decision were flexible working hours (32%); good pay (23%); and being able to work from home(12%). The majority of those no longer working (66%) owned their homes outright, and were more likely to be debt free (61%) compared with those who left their job since the pandemic and returned to work, of whom only 42% were debt free. The ONS also concluded that age is a factor in financial resilience. 55% of those aged 60 to 65 years were confident that their retirement provisions would meet their needs, compared with 38% of those aged 50 to 54 years.

Wall Street giant JPMorgan is planning to double the size of its workforce at fledgling British retail bank Chase to at least 2,000 within two years, despite losses and some investor scepticism. Chase UK CEO Sanjiv Somani told Reuters that it had attracted one million customers and more than £10bn in deposits to its UK mobile app bank since its launch last September. "We want to be international, starting with the UK," he said in an interview at the bank's UK headquarters in Canary Wharf in London on Friday, although he declined to say where Chase might launch next. Reuters has reported previously however that JPMorgan is hiring retail bankers in Germany ahead of a potential launch there.

JD Wetherspoon has put 32 of its pubs across England up for sale because of the increased costs of staff wages and repairs. The firm warned previously it could face losses of £30m due to surging costs. Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "This is a commercial decision. We understand that customers and staff will be disappointed with it. He added that the pubs will "continue to operate as Wetherspoon outlets" until they are sold. The chain, founded by businessman Tim Martin, operates around 800 pubs around the UK and Ireland.

FTSE 250 manufacturing firm Spirax-Sarco Engineering has agreed to acquire US custom electric thermal solutions specialist Durex International in a deal valued at $342.2m (£320.54m).

Waste management company Biffa is to be bought by private equity firm Energy Capital Partners (ECP) for around £1.3bn. Under the terms of the deal, ECP will pay 410p per Biffa share, a premium of 28% to the closing share price on 6th June, which was the last business day before the start of the offer period.

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been appointed as the sole contractor to both the SCAPE Civil Engineering and the SCAPE Scotland Civil Engineering frameworks. Together these contracts are worth up to £3.25bn and £750m, respectively, and will enable local authorities and other public sector bodies to commission works through a procurement process over a period of four years, with an option for a two-year extension.

Luxury fashion brand Burberry said earlier that its chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci will be stepping down at the end of the month after almost five years, during which time he spearheaded Burberry's creative transformation. Tisci will be succeeded by Daniel Lee, an award-winning designer, who will be based at the company’s London HQ and report to CEO Jonathan Akeroyd. Lee has worked previously at Italian luxury brand Bottega, Celine, Balenciaga and Donna Karan.

Fast food franchise Domino's Pizza Group has named Elias Diaz Sese as interim CEO, taking over from outgoing CEO Dominic Paul on 10th October. Sese, a non-executive director at the group since October 2019, has over 20 years' experience in leadership roles in global consumer food brands and franchise businesses - including Restaurant Brands and Kraft Heinz, Sharecast News says. The FTSE 250-listed group said Paul will remain with the group for a period of time to facilitate "a smooth transition".

Outgoing AJ Bell chief executive Andy Bell said yesterday that he was also stepping down from the company board at the end of the week after talks with The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to avoid any conflicts of interest. The FCA has approved Michael Summersgill to take on the role of CEO from October 1st. In a statement the FTSE 250 investment platform said: “The Board has agreed with Andy that whilst he remains a significant shareholder, he will retain the right to nominate a non-executive director to represent his interests as a major shareholder on the board”.

Amid the collapsing value of the pound and sliding equities, bitcoin has made a surprising rally, Yahoo Finance UK says. The world's largest digital asset by market cap rose 8% yesterday according to data from crypto tracking website Coingecko, to $20,240 per coin. Cryptocurrency prices generally went up, with the combined market cap of all digital assets rising 5.7% to $1.01tn (£950bn).

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