2012 saw sales of new cars in the UK peak at an 11 year high, as motorists swapped old cars in need of expensive repairs for newer, more reliable alternatives.
With over 2 million new cars leaving the forecourt in 2012 there was a rise of 5.3pc over the figures for 2011. Family run-arounds were the most in demand of the new models with Ford, Vauxhall and VW all represented twice each in the top 10 results.
The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith believes benefits should no longer automatically increase at the same rate as inflation. He stated that it is unreasonable for wages to rise at a slower rate than benefits.
According to officials, the UK economy saw a 0.9% growth in the third quarter of this year. This figure fell just short of the 1% that had been previously estimated.
Australia introduced the concept over a decade ago and a number of countries like Romania, Vietnam, Mexico and Malaysia, have followed suit. It now looks as though the UK could to turn to polymer based bank notes to replace the current paper ones.
Official data has shown that there was no change in UK consumer prices inflation last month as it remains at 2.7%. According the Office for National Statistics; Cereals, fruit, bread and energy bills saw the most rapid increase in prices, whilst petrol prices fell 3p a litre to £1.35 and diesel dropped 1.5p to £1.42 a litre. Carpets, beer and plane ticket prices also saw a decrease in November from October.
The Chancellor, George Osbourne, today gave the annual autumn statement highlighting a wide range of economic issues, and we look at how these could affect you.
The first point concerns the economy as a whole. As most of you will know we have just emerged from the double-dip recession that has been affecting the UK industry since 2007, after a period of small growth in the last quarter
There were not many organisations across the UK that didn’t feel the full effects of the double-dip recession, but Comet, one of the biggest electrical retailers in Britain, are in a class of companies that failed to emerge from the downturn intact.
While the company has already lost 41 shops and more than 1,000 staff, Deloitte has said that the lack of a firm offer from Comet to maintain the ownership of their remaining 125 shops, could lead to their closure over the next ‘several weeks’.
A deal by Japanese firm, Hitachi, which has secured the nuclear project ‘Horizon’ at a cost of £700m, will create as many as 12,000 jobs within the UK.
Horizon was a venture originally planned by two German companies, E.ON and RWE, but doubt was cast over it last March when it was put up for sale following the meltdown of the nuclear reactors in Japan, causing the companies to pull out of all worldwide nuclear commitments.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the UK double-dip recession is officially over, after the economy grew by 1pc in the third quarter leading to September.
This represents the fastest rate of growth for the economy in the last five years, and brings to an end a nine month period in which the economy shrank continuously.
Much has been made in 2012 about the impending changes to financial advice, which will be brought about by the introduction of the RDR on 31 December. With just over two months to go now before the Retail Distribution Review is brought into effect, there are still many people who will be confused by what it actually is.
