Economic forecasters have slashed expectations for Britain’s recovery and said further pain could follow, depending on the severity of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and government action to avoid a “cliff edge” for business investment. The Confederation of British Industry, the UK’s leading business lobby group, said in June that it expected the economy to expand by 8.2%. But on Monday it cut that prediction to 6.9% and revised down its 2022 forecast from 6.9% to 5.1%. – Guardian
Thee struggling Chinese property developer Evergrande has seen its shares plunge to an 11-year low after strong indications that it is on the verge of a potentially disastrous default and could be forced into a full-blown restructuring. The company has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months as it faced a series of repayments on debts – three times waiting until the last possible moment to stump up the cash needed to stay afloat. But a statement from the company over the weekend said that there was “no guarantee” that the group could meet its obligations and added that creditors had demanded immediate repayment of a total of $260m (£196m). – Guardian
Recruitment giants are struggling to snap up enough headhunters as they embark on a hiring spree to cope with the ‘Great Resignation’ boom. A dearth of available candidates has hit the UK’s recruitment industry itself as headhunters widen their search for staff amid widespread shortages, according to jobs giant Manpower. Chris Gray, director at Manpower UK, said bosses are being forced to cut their hiring wish list and overhaul job adverts to attract more candidates. He said the recruitment industry itself is finding it “very challenging” to find experienced staff as bosses battle for workers. – Telegraph
Regulators need to “wreck the business model” of ransomware gangs by cracking down on cryptocurrency companies that facilitate Bitcoin payments, according to the former head of GCHQ. Robert Hannigan, who was director of Britain’s signals intelligence agency from 2014 to 2017, said more coordinated action was needed to tackle a surge in ransomware attacks during the pandemic. – Telegraph
An anonymous investor is reducing its stake in Klarna and offering the shares to small investors in the UK at a 5 per cent discount to the $46 billion valuation that the Swedish “buy now, pay later” credit company achieved six months ago. Crowdcube, the online investment platform, has been taking expressions of interest from its 1.2 million members for shares in Klarna, the most valuable privately owned financial technology company in Europe. It has been messaging its members telling them that it has “secured an exclusive, limited allocation” of Klarna stock from a unidentified private seller. – The Times
The board of Taylor Wimpey has been put on alert after it emerged that an activist investor was building a stake. Elliott Advisors, the American hedge fund that has been lobbying for board changes at GlaxoSmithKline, has built a small stake. The housebuilder, one of Britain’s biggest, operates from 23 regional businesses in the UK and constructs homes ranging from flats to six-bedroom houses. The company, which has been led by Pete Redfern, 51, since 2007, built about 15,500 homes in 2019 and is expected to complete about 14,000 homes this year. – The Times
