The axe will have to fall on Britain’s runaway public spending October 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves likes to insist that she will “never play fast and loose with the public finances.” It’s a phrase she deploys quite often, not least when it looks as if the bond market could do with a bit of reassurance, and it means that she won’t breach her “cast iron” fiscal rules. Adherence to [...]
Darktrace boss blames employee share rules for London exit October 22, 2025 The boss of Darktrace has said that the London Stock Exchange’s restrictive rules over offering options and equity to staff drove its decision to leave the UK bourse in 2023, saying it limited its ability to attract and retain talent. Jill Popelka told a Bloomberg event that the “limitations” meant that as a London-listed company [...]
Allica Bank makes major acquisition as it eyes £1bn SME lending goal October 22, 2025 Allica Bank is set to announce a fresh acquisition as the firm looks to beef up its lending capacity for small businesses, City AM can reveal. The digital bank has snapped up London-based fintech Kriya, which specialises in embedded finance and business loans. The takeover, set to be announced on Wednesday, marks Allica’s third acquisition [...]
Autumn Budget: JCB boss calls on Reeves not to do anything ‘daft’ October 22, 2025 The chief executive of JCB has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves not to do anything “daft” in her Autumn Budget which would deter inward investment. Graeme Macdonald, who leads the Staffordshire-headquartered manufacturing giant under chairman Lord Anthony Bamford, said he’s “not optimistic” about the Budget next month, adding that Reeves is “definitely” going to raise [...]
Up to £115bn government spending cuts ‘staring us in the face’ October 22, 2025 Around £115bn in cuts to government spending each year are “staring us in the face”, according to a new report, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces increasing pressure to regain control of the public finances. In a paper published by the think tank Policy Exchange, the Chancellor has been warned to prevent a “twin-pronged fiscal crisis” [...]
Rachel Reeves plans another NIC tax raid at November Budget October 21, 2025 Rachel Reeves is gearing up for another billion-pound raid on National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as the Chancellor finds ways to plug a huge fiscal black hole in November’s Budget. Reeves is understood to be drawing up plans to extend NICs taxes to include limited liability partnerships or LLPs, to whom the tax does not currently [...]
Lloyds boss: Motor finance redress wipes 20-year profit off industry October 21, 2025 The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has warned the financial watchdog’s motor finance redress scheme could knock two decades of profitability off the car finance industry. Charlie Nunn, the bank’s chief, has doubled down on the lender’s previous warning shots, adding he didn’t think the scheme was “proportionate”. The FTSE 100 titan has pulled no [...]
Playtech shares tumble after firm becomes embroiled in US lawsuit October 21, 2025 Shares in Playtech tumbled on Tuesday after it emerged the gambling software firm had become embroiled in a US defamation lawsuit. The FTSE 250 firm has been named as the company behind a 2021 investigative report which made a string of misconduct allegations against its Swedish rival, Evolution. Playtech is understood to have commissioned Israeli [...]
Lifetime ISA hands £1bn boost to Treasury coffers amid debate over purpose October 21, 2025 The Lifetime ISA has provided the Treasury with a significant fiscal boost each year since 2021, despite the government continuing to question whether it is ultimately fit for purpose. According to research from CBI Economics, commissioned by Moneybox, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) has delivered a net boost of £1bn to date for the government since [...]
How sport can take tackle Gen Z’s problem with gender polarisation October 21, 2025 Gender is as becoming as divisive as race, politics and economics among but sport can play its part in fixing a growing problem among Gen Z, writes Matt Readman. It’s been 25 years since Nelson Mandela famously said that sport could “unite people in a way that little else does”. While sport has sometimes mirrored social [...]