LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
TGIF KNIVES OUT AND MATILDA BRING WINTER CHEER P20 FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2022
ISSUE 3,869
A NIGHT OF CELEBRATIONS FOR CRYPTO TALENT P16
CITYAM.COM
A LAST HURRAH SHOPPERS LOOK TO SNAP UP BLACK FRIDAY BARGAINS BEFORE CUTTING BACK EMILY HAWKINS AND JACK BARNETT CASH-STRAPPED shoppers will take advantage of Black Friday discounts this weekend as they try to make Christmas special, before tightening their belts as the UK enters into a recession. While retailers may see a temporary boost in sales this weekend, shoppers will pull forward Christmas spending rather than “buying twice” as in previous years, Hargreaves Lansdown’s Sophie LundYates told City A.M.
A historic trend of people “enjoying shopping sprees here, there and everywhere” in the run up to Christmas would not be on the cards this year, the analyst added. Sales over the weekend are set to rise slightly by 0.8 per cent compared to the same period last year to £8.7bn, a forecast from Vouchercodes suggests, with shoppers relying on discounts “more than ever” to budget for Christmas. Retail spending in the festive period would look “reasonably resilient,” but there would be a “huge pull back” in
January, Lund-Yates said. Amazon is expected to be the most popular site for purchasing Black Friday bargains this year, while electrical goods retailers such as Currys, Argos and John Lewis will also draw clicks, according to Hargreaves Lansdown analysis. Customers at Argos are planning “more carefully than ever” for Christmas, as well as with everyday purchases, according to the catalogue retailer’s trading director, Matt Leeser. Shoppers are “buying items on their list only when the best deals are available,” Lesser said.
Black Friday comes as consumer confidence is at an all-time low, which has mainly been dragged down by Brits worrying about rising energy and food bills eroding their finances. Economists have bet on consumers raiding their pandemic savings to maintain spending. However, the threat of unemployment amid the coming recession means “households will act with caution when deciding whether to draw upon the pot of savings,” chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics Samuel Tombs said.
FREE ALWAYS WATCHING
Chinese CCTV banned on sensitive sites STEFAN BOSCIA GOVERNMENT departments must stop installing surveillance cameras made by Chinese companies in “sensitive” sites, it was announced yesterday. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told MPs that a review by the Government Security Group found “additional controls are required” due to “the threat to the UK and the increasing capability and connectivity” of Chinese-made surveillance systems. Some government buildings use surveillance equipment made by Hikvision, for example, which is majorityowned by the Chinese state. Dowden said departments have “been instructed to cease deployment of such equipment on to sensitive sites, where it is produced by companies subject to the national intelligence law of the People’s Republic of China”. Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the government should go further and ban Chinese-made surveillance equipment from all central and local government buildings. A Hikvision spokesperson said: “It is categorically false to represent Hikvision as a threat to national security.”
Cost of energy bills support package to balloon as Ofgem unveils price cap hike NICHOLAS EARL THE GOVERNMENT is set to pay billions more to support households with their energy bills this winter, after Ofgem unveiled another huge hike to the energy price cap. The energy market watchdog announced the cap will rise by £700 to £4,279 per year in January –
reflecting Russia’s squeeze on increasingly tight gas markets when demand will be at its peak as Brits heat their homes this winter. Households will not be paying the massive price cap rate, however. Instead, their energy bills are heavily subsidised under the Energy Price Guarantee – with average use contained to £2,500 per year until
next April, and then to £3,000 per year for the following 12 months. However, the rise in the cap will grow the cost of the household support package, as the government will be providing savings of up to £1,779 per year in the JanuaryApril window before the next price cap update. For context, the price cap was set
at £1,277 per year in March. Energy analysts Cornwall Insight predict the cost of support for households will rise from £38bn to £42bn over the next 18 months, while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told MPs on Wednesday that the whole support package for both households and businesses could reach £120bn by the end of 2023.
He is now reportedly preparing a £25m public information campaign to encourage people to reduce their energy bills by turning down boilers, switching off radiators and taking showers instead of baths. The government is targeting a 15 per cent cut in the UK’s energy use, to reduce its reliance on overseas suppliers.
INSIDE LYNCH DOUBLES DOWN ON STRIKES P4 JET2 LEAVES TURBULENT PANDEMIC BEHIND P8 BBB: LONDON WILL COME ROARING BACK P13 OPINION P18 SPORT P23