There were also signs that trade between Britain and the EU recovered as February exports grew by 47 per cent to £11.6 billion ($15.94bn), while the import of goods recorded a weaker rebound of 7.3 per cent.
This comes after a 42 per cent, or £5.7bn, drop in exports to the EU in January – the first month of the new post-Brexit trade relationship – when businesses struggled to cope with the new rules.
“Exports to the EU recovered significantly from their January fall, although they still remain below 2020 levels. However, imports from the EU are yet to significantly rebound, with a number of issues hampering trade,” the ONS said.
However, the losses were recovered quickly to record a gain against the euro. UK authorities have dismissed safety concerns on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which should leave the pound less vulnerable than other European currencies to the suspension story, ING said in a note to clients.
Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Think Markets, said sterling’s weakness since its February high was primarily against the US and Canadian dollars.
“In the US, bets on a stronger recovery have seen bond yields rise to levels not seen since before the pandemic and this has underpinned the greenback against most currencies except the Canadian dollar, which has been in stronger demand due to big oil price gains,” Mr Razaqzada told
For British insurance worker Steven Williams, the concept of hybrid working is nothing new.
In the six years before the crisis, Mr Williams, 44, split his working week between his home in Cardiff and his office in Bromley, Kent, where he worked as head of price comparison relationships at Direct Line Group (DLG).
Mr Williams started the three-and-a-half hour commute by train from his home in Wales on a Tuesday morning, returning home to his family on Thursday evenings with the rest of his work carried out at home. I normally did that three out of every four weeks and then I had one week where I worked totally from home, just to give myself a break from the travelling, the father-of-two told
Some residents are hunting for properties with gardens or more space as the work-from-home trend continues, while demand for short-term rentals is also on the up.
However, the idea of investing in real estate might seem a little risky for some when you consider the world is only just emerging from the pandemic.
So, what alternatives are there for investors that want a slice of the real estate market without saving up a huge deposit? Are UAE property prices really on the rise? And, what other global markets should you consider investing in now?
Host Alice Haine from
The National is joined by Siddiq Farid, the founder and chief executive of SmartCrowd, a digital real estate investment platform that allows investors to crowdfund their property purchase.