Share Radio Breakfast

Today at 12pm the Bank of England will be releasing its latest interest rate decision. It's likely that the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will unanimously vote to hold rates at 0.25% in the face of potential economic upset from Brexit negotiations. Members of the Shadow MPC for the North East are supporting a rise in interest rates, arguing that it would be a positive move at the moment, especially for regional economies. Nigel Cassidy was joined by Christopher White, Financial Director at Darlington Building Society.

So the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's defeated a challenge from a far-right group in the country's elections. He's ahead of three other parties including one led by anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders. Speaking after a victory party the Prime minister said: , the [Dutch] people have said no to another country where the domino stone of the wrong side of populism would topple over. Geert Wilders is putting a brave face on coming second. He tweeted that he is proud of the more than one million people who voted for his Party of Freedom (PVV). To give his analysis, Nigel Cassidy was joined by Jeremy Cook, Chief Economist at World First.

Morgan Mckinley, the specialist recruitment consultancy has today released their latest London Employment Monitor. The results show the job market is in decline in light of Theresa May's Article 50 deadline and with Brexit on the horizon in general. It seems as the government continues to send inconsistent messages about what kind of deal it is seeking for British businesses, larger institutions in particular are exercising hiring caution. Nigel Cassidy spoke to Hakan Enver, Operations Director, Morgan McKinley to discuss their results.

New figures show that ebook sales are falling while paperback sales are on the rise.

The shift is particularly being driven by younger generations, who seem to be losing interest in reading on screens.

More than 360m books in all formats were sold in 2016, but ebooks are down 4%.

Steve Bohme, from Nielsen Book Research UK, did the research, and spoke to Share Radio's James Brydges

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says the UK construction industry could lose almost 200,000 EU workers if Britain leaves the single market. It argues that alternative plans need to be put in place in the event of a hard Brexit, otherwise some of the country's biggest infrastructure and construction projects could be put under threat. Abdul Choudhury, RICS Policy Manager for London, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast to discuss this.

The Scottish Retail Consortium in conjunction with KPMG has released its latest retail sales monitor today. It seems the retail sector in Scotland has got off to a somewhat sluggish start with the figures suggesting Scottish consumers are beginning to tighten their belts. However, with Spring just around the corner perhaps the high-street will become more appealing? Joining Nigel Cassidy to discuss further was Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Head of Policy at the Scottish Retail Consortium.

New figures just out show that the number of companies in the UK has reached a record high - breaking the four million threshold for the first time. The boom is fuelled in a large part by the formation of new companies, with roughly 665 thousand started in the UK last year. But is this symptomatic of a flexible, dynamic workforce - or are there just no more full time jobs? Nigel Cassidy was joined by Jonathan Richards, CEO at breatheHR, a firm that provides software to SMEs.

Bango, the mobile payment company which enables app store customers to click and buy apps or in-app content and place the charge directly onto their mobile phone bill, has released full year results today. So how is the company doing? Joining Nigel Cassidy to reveal all is Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango.

The UK economy's expected to grow more than initially thought this year, partly because of the strength of household spending.

The British Chambers of Commerce has upgraded its outlook from 1-point-1 to 1-point-4 percent.

But its growth forecast for 2018 has downgraded slightly, because of inflation.

However, it has downgraded its expectations slightly for 2018.

So what factors are contributing to this upgrade? And what can we expect in the following years?

Nigel Cassidy spoke to Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the BCC and started by asking about the figures...

The Gym Group plc, the fast-growing, nationwide operator of over 80 high-quality low-cost gyms, has announced its full year results today. So how is the company doing? John Treharne, Chief Executive Officer of The Gym Group joined Nigel Cassidy to tell more about what the company's up to.