British retail sales defy forecasts with surprise August rise September 18, 2026 UK retail sales unexpectedly rose in August, defying forecasts of a decline. Despite renewed pressure from higher fuel prices, hot weather drove a strong rebound in both online shopping and department store sales. Economists had expected sales to fall 0.2 per cent but sales volumes rose 0.5 per cent during the month, reversing a 0.5 [...]
As it happened: Stocks slip as London’s rally loses momentum September 18, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks in London fell this morning as a three-day rally faded and erased much of the gains made following the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates yesterday. The FTSE 100 was trading down nearly one per cent at 12:50pm, dragged lower by falls for Shell [...]
HSBC to lose £17m in Brewdog collapse September 18, 2026 HSBC is set to lose out on more than £17m as part of the administration of Brewdog, the craft beer firm which was sold to a US cannabis group earlier this year. The bank is set to suffer a shortfall of £16.8m from its debts to the collapsed brewer while its Equipment Finance arm is [...]
Next boss Wolfson tells Healey: ‘You can’t spend your way out of a crisis’ September 17, 2026 Lord Wolfson, Next’s chief executive, has urged Chancellor John Healey to cut spending at next month’s Budget, warning, “you can’t spend your way out of a funding crisis”. The retail boss has urged the government to clamp down on spending, avoid further tax hikes and slash planning red tape to boost economic growth. He told [...]
Beauty Tech shares glow as boss brushes off ‘cheap’ rivals September 17, 2026 Beauty Tech Group boss Laurence Newman has brushed off competition from ‘cheap beauty devices’ after the London-listed firm more than tripled its first-half profit. Shares in the owner of Currentbody Skin rose more than 13 per cent to 395p on Thursday after revenue climbed 44.3 per cent to £79.7m in the six months to June. [...]
Next lifts profit targets but sounds alarm on ‘vicious circle’ of high tax and low growth September 17, 2026 Next has lifted its profit target again following “much better” than expected trading in the first half of the year as the retailer was spurred on by booming international sales and record summer temperatures. The FTSE 100 retail giant saw sales across its group jump by nine per cent in the six months to July, [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 soars after Bank of England holds interest rates September 17, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Investors responded positively to the Bank of England’s widely tipped decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.75 per cent on Thursday. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that volatile energy prices caused by the Iran war will push inflation up further than its current 3.1 [...]
Marks and Spencer shares slide as investors brace for inflation hit September 16, 2026 Shares in Marks and Spencer have taken a dip as investors fear that rising inflation will push shoppers away from the upmarket grocer and towards its budget rivals. FTSE-100-listed M&S, whose food arm accounts for more than half of its revenue, dropped as much as four per cent on Wednesday to 357p. The share price [...]
Mike Ashley tightens grip on Hugo Boss as son-in-law made chair September 16, 2026 Mike Ashley has tightened his grip on Hugo Boss after his son-in-law, the boss of Frasers Group, was made chairman of the German fashion house. Frasers, which Ashley founded as Sports Direct, has been vying for control of Hugo Boss for months, resulting in him toppling the chairman of its supervisory board, Stefan Sturm, earlier [...]
Morrisons sales rise as debt-ridden grocer cuts costs September 16, 2026 Morrisons has toasted faster sales growth as the private-equity-owned grocer nears £1bn in savings as it races to trim its huge debt pile. The grocer saw like-for-like sales jump by 3.2 per cent to £1.4bn in the three months to the end of July, as its chief executive attributed this “stronger sales momentum” to the [...]