Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Former PM’s West home on sale for £3.5m
ABATH property which former prime minister Pitt the Younger called home has hit the market for £3.5 million.
The five-bedroom Pitt House on Johnstone Street is a Grade I-listed double fronted townhouse near Pulteney Bridge and Bath Rugby’s home at The Rec.
William Pitt became Britain’s youngest prime minister at the age of 24 in 1783. He left office in 1801 before being prime minister again in 1804.
It is thought that he lived at the property in Bath between his two terms of office.
There is a plaque on the exterior of the property highlighting the connection with Pitt.
And after a substantial redevelopment the home is once again certainly fit for any prime minister.
Before again becoming a majestic family home, the building had been used as offices, including by the Bath Conservative Association.
The historic home is being marketed by Knight Frank.
It said: “In the present day, the property has been exquisitely restored into a luxurious family home, boasting an array of ornate details, including 18 chandeliers, Aston Martin upholstery, and a room dedicated purely to present wrapping!”
If that isn’t enough to persuade any potential buyers, the vendor is also throwing in a gift of a one-year membership to the nearby 5-star luxury Gainsborough Bath Spa and gym.
EXPORTS of UK goods to the European Union dropped by more than two-fifths in January as the Brexit transition period came to an end.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that overall exports from the UK fell by £5.3 billion – 19.3 per cent.
It was driven by a £5.6 billion, or 40.7 per cent, plunge in exports of goods to the EU, the ONS said.
Imports also fell, by £8.9 billion overall (21.6 per cent), while imports from the EU dropped £6.6 billion (28 per cent), the figures show.
The falls in imports and exports are the largest since records began in 1997, the ONS said, as a £200 million – 1.7 per cent – increase in non-EU exports failed to make up for the decline within the bloc.
British Chambers of Commerce head of economics, Suren Thiru, said: “While changes in data collection limit historic comparisons, the significant slump in UK exports of goods to the EU, particularly compared to non-EU trade, provides an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU by the current border disruption.
“The practical difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems and, with disruption to UK-EU trade flows persisting, trade is likely to be a drag on UK economic growth in the first quarter of 2021.”
The end of the transition period coincided with the spread of a new strain of Covid-19 in the UK, causing lorry drivers to need tests to cross the border at the English Channel.
Another national lockdown was also imposed at the beginning of the month. Since then, other measures have shown that trade levels have in part recovered.
A Government spokesman said: “A unique combination of factors, including stockpiling last year, Covid lockdowns across Europe, and businesses adjusting to our new trading relationship, made it inevitable that exports to the EU would be lower this January than last.
“This data does not reflect the overall EU-UK trading relationship post-Brexit and, thanks to the hard work of hauliers and traders, overall freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels since the start of February.”
Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said: “Latest data points at stronger trade flows with the EU since February and we expect production to gradually recover, although the longer term impact on supply chains will depend on how attractive the UK remains and the competition from other locations within the EU.”
Because the value of imports fell more than exports in January, the trade deficit for the month narrowed by £3.7 billion to £1.9 billion.
Companies had been stockpiling ahead of the end of the transition period, and may also have been using their stock instead of buying new goods in January.
This was particularly noticeable in pharmaceuticals, with exports dropping 63 per cent.
UK exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to Ireland jumped by 224 per cent in the three months to December, the ONS said.
The export of food and live animals to the EU plummeted by around 64 per cent in January, the figures show, potentially because of strict checks by the EU.
The Scottish Seafood Association has reported that sign-offs on consignments are now taking six times longer than previously.
The EU imposed full customs requirements on exports coming from Great Britain in January; however, the UK decided it did not immediately want to start full controls. On Thursday, the Government again delayed its plans to introduce full border checks with the EU until early next year, after they were originally planned for July.
The BCC’s Mr Thiru added: “Although the postponement of import checks will help avoid exacerbating the current disruption, there must be a greater focus on long-term solutions to improving the flow of UK-EU trade. Offering tax credits to support firms to adapt to the new arrangements would help many address new burdens and requirements better.”
Imports of services dropped two per cent in January, while exports fell one per cent.