Halfords eyes garage growth after wheels fall off cycling boom Retail Retail and autocentre giant Halfords will deliver its full-year results next week, hoping to deliver sustained growth after a Covid-era bike boom. Felix Armstrong profiles the FTSE stalwart Head to the very back of a Halfords store, snaking your way round the air fresheners, tents, brake fluid and torches, and you will find the bike [...]
Britain is still paying a heavy price for Covid lockdowns Opinion Six years on from the first lockdown, Britain hasn’t returned to its pre-Covid path – instead becoming a high-tax, low-growth less free nation, says Alex Pugh A little over six years ago, 27m people watched UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tell them to “stay home” to tackle the spread of coronavirus. Johnson said you should [...]
We’re still paying for lockdown, so why is no one talking about it? Paul Ormerod We borrowed billions to pay for lockdown but neither Starmer nor Sunak will admit that the resulting debt is holding the public finances in a vice-like grip, says Paul Ormerod To borrow a famous phrase from Karl Marx, a spectre is haunting the election campaign. Despite the frantic efforts by the Conservatives to portray Keir [...]
