Brexit 'means economy faces 50/50 recession chance' Image copyright Reuters The UK has a 50/50 chance of falling into recession within the next 18 months following the Brexit vote, says a leading economic forecaster.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says the country will go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next. It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year. "This is the short-term economic consequence of the vote to leave the EU", said Simon Kirby of the NIESR. Overall the institute forecasts that the UK economy will probably grow by 1.7% this year but will expand by just 1% in 2017. This would see the UK avoid a technical recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Mr Kirby argued that the June referendum vote had led to such financial and political uncertainty that this would bear directly on the spending and investment decisions of both businesses and households.
Now, the culprit is the uncertainty following June's Brexit vote. Key Figures - How much money London Fashion Week makes. Vivian Hendriksz London - With the start of London Fashion Week just a day away, FashionUnited asks how much income such an extravagant event generates, how much money visitors spend and how much money the city of London itself makes?
Although LFW does not make the most out of the global fashion weeks, coming in second to New York Fashion Week, based on our calculations the total income made from London Fashion Week is 269 million pounds (322 million euros). Key Figures for London Fashion Week Number of visitors 105,000 Total income: 269 million pounds City income: 52.6 million poundsBusiness income: 216 million pounds Venue income: 74 million poundsRestaurant income: 76 million poundsRetail income: 63 million poundsAccommodation income: 55.5 million poundsAverage expenditure per visitor: 1,855 pounds Interested in reading more on how much money London Fashion Week generates? Interested to see which events, shows and more you shouldn't miss during LFW? Primark blames the weather for falling sales.
Image copyright Getty Images A warm winter and a cold spring has been blamed for a fall in sales at low-cost fashion retailer Primark.
Shoppers left winter clothes on the rails in the run up to Christmas due to unusually warm weather, and a cold March and April depressed sales of summer clothes. As a result Primark, like other stores, had to cut the price tag to sell them. The retailer expects like-for-like sales, which ignore new-store sales, to fall 2% for the year to 17 September. "If the weather's warm consumers make do with clothes from the previous year," said Maria Malone, principal lecturer for fashion business at Manchester Metropolitan University. For retailers like Primark that causes a problem as they source their clothes from the Far East and South Asia and cannot adjust their stock to reflect the weather conditions.
"Once stock is on its way you can't turn the ships around," points out Ms Malone. Pound impact Pension deficit. Prediction: There will be no more billion dollar brands. Luxury footwear brand Jimmy Choo boosted by weaker pound. Celebrity-favourite footwear brand Jimmy Choo has posted rising profits and said it expects a weaker pound in the wake of Brexit to further boost revenues and profits.
The luxury shoes and accessories firm, popular with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Sandra Bullock, said that because only 9.5 per cent of its global revenues are in pounds compared to a larger 28 per cent of operating costs, a weaker sterling ‘will lead to a reported upside in business performance at a revenue and profit level’. The comment came as Jimmy Choo posted a 43 per cent rise in operating profits for the six months to the end of June to £25.3million boosted by a weak pound, as well as growth in China and in its men's coillection.
Luxury appetite: Jimmy Choo said it saw ‘impressive’ growth in China, which has been a tough market for its competitors recently While being well-known for its skyscraper heels, Jimmy Choo's men’s line and handbags have also been doing well.