Next CEO backs Lords battle against National Insurance tax rise January 29, 2025 The chief executive of retail giant Next has backed an attempt in the House of Lords to change the planned change to employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Lord Wolfson has supported amendments to the bill which have been tabled by Baroness Noakes. In Labour’s Budget last Autumn, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the government would [...]
Grow, baby, grow… but will Labour’s growth agenda be enough? January 29, 2025 City AM’s politics reporter, Jessica Frank-Keyes, unpacks the week in Westminster. Today, she tackles Labour’s growing promises. Picture a graph with the x axis stretching from 1800 to the present day. The data is represented as a fairly flat line along the bottom, up to about 1960. Then it bumps around at about a quarter [...]
Rachel Reeves vows to fight for economic growth January 28, 2025 The Chancellor will declare that “growth won’t come without a fight” as she unveils her plan to turnaround Britain’s ailing economy with billions of pounds of investment and new infrastructure projects. Reeves will pledge an £80bn boom to the economy from a new Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor in a move that comes after the pensions industry [...]
CT Group appoints Baroness Helena Morrissey as non-executive January 28, 2025 Sir Lynton Crosby's consulting firm CT Group has appointed Baroness Helena Morrissey as a non-executive director, City AM can exclusively reveal
Glaring contradiction at heart of government growth agenda January 28, 2025 In the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (stay with me) the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading were abolished, and in their place emerged the Competition and Markets Authority. The 2013 Act enshrined the regulator’s remit and responsibilities, with a hefty focus on protecting consumers. On the CMA’s website, they summarise [...]
Pension industry backs Reeves’ £160bn investment drive January 28, 2025 The pensions industry has said it is willing to back the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to unlock up to £160bn in corporate surpluses if retirees are given “appropriate protection” by the government. Reeves and the Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to meet with business leaders in the City of London today to outline pension [...]
No10: Starmer had ‘very good early engagement’ with President Trump January 27, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has had “very good early engagement” with Donald Trump, Downing Street has said, after the leaders spoke for the first time since the US president’s inauguration. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman did not provide any updates on when Sir Keir might travel to Washington to meet the US president, or whether President [...]
This government has proven woefully naive. Just look at the ‘Office for Value for Money’ January 27, 2025 Reeves' failing Office for Value for Money showcases just how naive this government is, writes Eliot Wilson.
Former London night czar Amy Lamé founds consultancy 24hr Cities January 24, 2025 The former London night czar Amy Lamé has founded a new global consultancy called 24hr Cities. Lamé, who served as Mayor Sadiq Khan’s expert on the capital’s nightlife, received a £132,846 salary by the end of her tenure at City Hall and stepped down in October 2024. But her time in office saw London’s nightlife [...]
Firms finding it ‘almost impossible’ to survive after Labour tax hikes January 24, 2025 Less than three months after the Budget, critical financial distress for UK businesses climbs by 50 per cent, with the construction sector leading the table