Author: INDEPENDENT

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsShoppers descended on UK high streets and retail parks to buy last-minute gifts on Christmas Eve, boosting retailers amid a challenging consumer backdrop.More shoppers visited shops and retail destinations compared with a year ago, according to early data.Figures from retail technology specialists MRI Software showed footfall up to 1pm on Christmas Eve was up 2.4% compared with the same day a year earlier.This also represented a 20.5% jump…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe FTSE 100 was in festive mood on Tuesday, closing higher after a report showed improved UK business confidence and the US economy grew more than forecast in the third quarter.The FTSE 100 index closed up 23.25 points, 0.2%, at 9,889.22. The FTSE 250 ended up just 6.83 points at 22,349.55, while the AIM All-Share closed down 1.67 points, 0.2%, at 758.81.UK business confidence increased to 47% in…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe FTSE 100 closed lower on Monday in lacklustre trading, amid a downbeat view of the UK’s economic prospects for 2026.The index closed down 31.45 points, 0.3%, at 9,865.97. The FTSE 250 ended up 30.01 points, 0.1%, at 22,342.21, and the AIM All-Share closed up 3.09 points, 0.4%, at 760.48.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said firms across the private sector once again expect activity to fall in…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsA decision to hand over four independently run cafes in Hampstead Heath, including one regularly visited by actor Benedict Cumberbatch, to a group of Australian-inspired eateries has provoked “outrage” within the community, campaigners say.Daisy Green has been selected to run cafes at Queen’s Park, Golders Hill Park, Parliament Hill Lido and Parliament Hill Fields from spring 2026 by the City of London Corporation (CLC), which owns the land.The…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Michael Edwards, better known to the world as “Eddie the Eagle”, recently found himself battling a familiar, yet distinctly different, kind of pre-performance anxiety. Not the bone-shattering fear of a perilously steep ski jump, but the nerve-wracking prospect of facing a theatre packed with children on the opening night of Beauty and the Beast.The athlete-turned-performer, who once risked his neck on the slopes, now faced the gentler…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsStock prices in London closed mostly higher on Friday, in light of lower-than-expected US inflation the day before.The US consumer price index rose by 2.7% in November from a year before, slowing from 3.0% annual inflation in September. Market consensus cited by FXStreet had expected inflation to increase to 3.1% in November.“The knife-edge nature of yesterday’s rate decision by the Bank of England is keeping UK stocks in…

Sign up to our free money newsletter for investment analysis and expert advice to help you build wealthSign up to our free money email for help building your wealthSign up to our free money email for help building your wealthThe Bank of England (BoE) announced on Thursday its decision to cut interest rates to 3.75 per cent, the fourth cut of the year.For December’s vote, the bank’s nine-person Monetary Policy Committee showed just a slight swing compared to last time out pre-Budget in November; a 5-4 split then favouring a hold became a 5-4 split in favour of cutting this…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsInterest rates are set to be cut before Christmas after inflation fell to an eight-month low in November, economists think.The Bank of England is widely expected to reduce borrowing costs to 3.75% from 4% when it next announces its next decision on Thursday.This would bring borrowing costs down to the lowest rate since the beginning of February 2023.Experts have said the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsBritain’s biggest chemical plant is to remain open after owner Ineos secured a major Government support package, in a deal which will secure around 500 jobs.The deal will see the UK Government provide more than £120 million to help keep Ineos’ Olefins & Polymers (O&P) plant at Grangemouth operating, after the future of the site became uncertain earlier this yearPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the move is…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe FTSE 100 marched higher on Monday, ahead of a raft of key economic data and an expected interest rate cut by the Bank of England later this week.The FTSE 100 index closed up 102.28 points, 1.1%, at 9,751.31. The FTSE 250 ended 172.61 points higher, 0.8%, at 22,049.16, but the AIM All-Share ended down 2.13 points, 0.3%, at 749.23.In Europe, the Cac 40 in Paris closed up…