Recession over (kinda)

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Economy slowly recovering

The economy grew 2.1% in August, making it the fourth consecutive month of growth. Whilst this means the official technical recession has ended (to be confirmed next month), recent growth has been below expectations. The economy is still 9.2% smaller than before the pandemic struck; Faisal Islam, the BBC’s Economics editor, believes that a full recovery is going to take much longer.

Housing plan warning

Boris Johnson pledged to “create 2 million more owner-occupiers”, citing low-deposit mortgages as the way to do it. Trade body, UK Finance, has since warned against irresponsible lending* and the importance of helping customers to avoid negative equity. Prior to the pandemic there were over 400 mortgage products that required a deposit of 5% of a property’s value - lenders have withdrawn all but a few.

Board diversity demanded

Legal & General, which manages over £1.2 trillion of assets, issued an ultimatum to FTSE 100 firms over their lack of diversity, saying that it will vote against all-white boards in 2022. A government-sponsored review found that 37 of the FTSE 100 had no BAME directors, and three-quarters failed to report the ethnic make-up of their boards.

Brexit border risks

Tens of thousands of businesses are not ready* for the upcoming changes to the Calais-Dover crossing, MPs have been told. One-third of businesses believe there will be another extension to the transition period, but Alex Chisholm, permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office, is adamant otherwise. Businesses would risk fines and delays by not having the correct paperwork.

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