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Online spending in November was double what it was during the same month last year, as people were precluded from physical shopping in non-essential retail stores due to Covid-19 restrictions. But the restrictions also appear to have given a boost to Irish retailers, with 43% of the online spend on Green Friday going to domestic-based…

The impact of Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions on consumer spending have been revealed in figures released by the Banking and Payments Federation. Cash withdrawals from ATMs and card spending dropped in October, due to the shutdown of non-essential retail outlets. However online shopping boomed, with more consumers buying Irish products as a rising number of local businesses…

Negotiations on a future EU-UK relationship will resume in London this morning, but hope is fading that the talks on a post-Brexit trade deal could finish today. Downing Street last night claimed that the EU side had placed fresh obstacles in the way of an agreement following pressure from French President Emmanuel Macron. British officials…

The European Union’s top markets regulator has delivered a fresh warning that big European banks will face difficulties trading derivatives when they are locked out of London’s dominant trading platforms at the end of the Brexit transition this month.  Steven Maijoor, chair of the Paris-based European Securities and Markets Authority, said in an interview with…

Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and B&M will forgo UK property tax relief during the pandemic, following rivals Tesco and Morrisons and taking the total recouped by the UK government from retailers to £1.8 billion.  Britain’s supermarket groups have seen sales soar during the pandemic, but have been criticised by politicians for paying shareholder dividends while receiving…

Brexit talks have stretched late into the night as both sides fought their corners with the clock ticking down to the deadline for a trade deal.  It was reported that several boxes of pizza were delivered to the talks venue last night.  EU and UK officials are trying to hammer out an agreement ahead of the end…

Services activity contracted faster in November, ahead of the reopening from this week of large parts of the sector, a business survey showed today.  Ireland became one of first European countries to reimpose tough Covid-19 restrictions in late October when the Government shut non-essential retail and limited pubs and restaurants to takeaway services. The restrictions…

The public finances recorded a deficit of €8.9 billion in November, according to the latest Exchequer figures. This compares to a surplus of €3.355bn in November last year. It is also an improvement on the €11.7bn deficit recorded at the end of October, largely due to some one-off factors. The deterioration compared to last year…

Irish consumers are planning on buying Irish after Brexit and many have already switched from UK websites due to concerns around consumer rights.  The Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said there has been an 18% increase in the number of people planning on buying more from Irish-based businesses. But more than half of consumers here still…

One third of Irish consumers, or 1.2 million people are Christmas shopping earlier this year due to lockdown, according to new research from PayPal. The study, conducted by Censuswide and involving more than 1,000 consumers in Ireland, found that the top reasons for starting shopping earlier are concerns over the availability of items and worries about…