Thursday, 21st December: The British motor industry is looking grim, as data released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders on Thursday revealed a 2% decline in year to date volumes for the first 11 months when compared to the same period last year. A decline close to 30% in year on year domestic demand has resulted in a 4.6% decline in November, with a total of 161,490 vehicles being produced in the month. Domestic demand for new cars has been tainted by two main factors; the ambiguity surrounding taxes on diesel cars, and of course that Brexit guy again. Exports have risen marginally, but not enough to offset the disappointing figures domestically.
This one is for all the dads who turn down the heating when they realise the kids have tampered with it, and I know I’m not the only one who’s experienced this. The combined average annual domestic bill, including both gas and electricity in 2017 as revealed by the government on Thursday has increased by 1.1% to £1,250, from £1,236 in 2016, but is still 3.6% lower than 2015 when it was £1,297. The overall 1.1% increase is a result of a 5.7% increase in electricity bills to £619, which was offset by a 2.9% decrease in gas bills to £631. Dads, your efforts in turning the heating down have paid off, it’s the lights you need to worry about now.
The blue chip index had a slow start to the day and was in red territory for a short amount of time, until afternoon trading when it managed to surpass its previous record high which was only achieved in November. At 13:30 (GMT) the index was 0.52% higher at 7564.
By the end of the day the index was soaring and was up 1.05% at 7603.
Leave a Reply