Podcasts

Georgie Frost was joined by Simon McCulloch, Commercial Director at comparethemarket.com this morning. Today on the agenda, they discussed why rent is rising faster than income. Plus they look into how nearly half of shoppers would rather pay more for their favourite brand than see it fall victim to 'shrinkflation. All these stories and more on The News Review.

To go through all the political headlines this morning with Georgie Frost was Josh Lowe of Newsweek magazine. Of course dominating the news was Chancellor Philip Hammond's Budget speech. But how was it received? Moving elsewhere within British politics, and Nicola Sturgeon has been talking about a second Scottish Referendum. She has said that it would be 'common sense' to hold a vote in Autumn 2018. And it's the EU Leaders Summit today in Brussels - Theresa May will be there. But will it be her last before triggering Article 50?

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Mike Ingram, market strategist at BGC partners starting with some budget reaction. How have the markets reacted to yesterdays announcements? It's also been a reasonably busy morning of company announcements. Morrisons has released final results this morning.

According to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) latest residential market survey the UK’s most vulnerable tenants are being pushed out of the private rental market due to rising rents and benefits cuts. However, could the government offer some assistance? Respondents to the survey suggested that more than half of the UK's private landlords would be prepared to rent their properties to homeless people or those on housing benefits if the Government introduced some form of state-endorsed deposit guarantor scheme. But is this really feasible? Joining Nigel Cassidy to give his analysis is Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at RICS.

Phillip Hammond of course delivered his spring budget yesterday, it was pretty quiet according to some. However there were some notable points on business rates, forecasts and national insurance hikes. To give his take on the Budget is Stephen Boyle, Chief Economist at Natwest.

Charles Taylor, the international provider of professional services to the insurance sector has released full year results today. So how is the company doing? Joining Nigel Cassidy to discuss the numbers is David Marock, CEO of Charles Taylor.

Car dealer Lookers has posted record profits for the year to the end of December - its eighth successive year of turnover and profit growth. Revenue increased 17% to £4.3 billion, while profit before tax rose by 46% to £91.8 million. To analyse the numbers, Robin Gregson, CFO of Lookers, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast.

What are the five biggest UK takeover targets? With a weaker pound post-EU referendum, and the Kraft-Heinz bid for Unilever perhaps encouraging further M&A activity, can we expect other British companies to be targeted for takeovers -- and which ones are most likely to have sights set on them? Share Radio's Matt Cox put the question to David Buik, Market Commentator at Panmure Gordon, to speculate on the current business landscape in Britain, and imagine which companies foreign firms have their eyes on.

Join Simon for a round-up of all our coverage of Philip Hammond's first Spring Budget. Chancellor Philip Hammond rose to the dispatch box at approximately 12:35 today and ended promptly at 1:30. In his speech, he announced a string of measures to help companies deal with changes to business rates - including a 1,000 pound discount for most pubs. However higher-paid self-employed people will face rising National Insurance payments.

Simon Rose gets analysis and reaction from some of the finest minds in the country on the Chancellor's Spring Budget. Former Monetary Policy Committee member at the Bank of England and currently Senior Adviser at PWC, Andrew Sentance, Tim Evans, Professor of Business & Political Economy, Middlesex University London - a.k.a. the Morecambe and Wise of business, money and finance - and Share Radio’s Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher rummage through the details of the speech and explain what it all means for you.