The company using AI to keep workers away from NHS waiting rooms October 16, 2025 Simplyhealth has pledged to be a solution to the UK’s productivity crisis, linking rising corporate sick leave, which costs Britain’s economy an estimated £150bn annually, to the NHS’s long backlog of treatments. The health insurer is turning to agentic AI to scale its services, hoping to keep employees healthy and at their desks rather than [...]
Rachel Reeves: Higher taxes on wealthy ‘part of story’ for Budget October 16, 2025 Rachel Reeves has confirmed a tax grab on the UK’s wealthy will be “part of the story” for her forthcoming Autumn Budget as she dismissed critics who fear an exodus from the nation’s richest. The Chancellor has faced rallying calls to launch a cash grab on the wealthy as she looks to strum up funds [...]
UK economy grew 0.1 per cent in August October 16, 2025 The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in August, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have shown, with a struggling construction sector in the month weighing down on output across the UK. The ONS data indicated on Wednesday morning the UK economy was set for a significant slowdown after an upswing in spending over [...]
The Whisky Exchange’s top creative cask bottlings October 16, 2025 City AM has teamed up with the Whisky Exchange to showcase some of the company’s most creative and innovative spirits. This month, it’s the turn of the creative cask bottlings, whiskies and rums bottled in unique and interesting casks that showcase the best of the spirit and innovation in the industry. As part of the [...]
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s colour evolution October 16, 2025 Whisky Business: City AM’s monthly look at the world of whisky. Over the past couple of decades, single malts have become synonymous with the Scotch whisky category. While blended Scotch, which uses a blend of different whiskies from various distilleries, still accounts for around 90 per cent of industry volume, single malt whisky, matured and distilled [...]
FTSE 100 Live: GDP ‘stumbles’ to end of year, Premier Inn owner’s earnings dip October 16, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Amid all the doom and gloom, it was a moment to cheer for bankers in the Square Mile yesterday. Rules governing bonuses are getting relaxed, which could lead to a tastier payout come the new year. The new rules will allow part-payment of bonuses for the most [...]
Should we be worried about AI market concentration? October 16, 2025 An interesting statistic caught my eye this week on reading the IMF’s report into global financial stability. The report cited a decades-old measure known as the Herfindahl-Hirschman index. While hardly catchy, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index is a simple tool for assessing the dominance of certain players within the market. The higher the number, the greater the [...]
Ousted CEO and mounting debts: the lawyers behind £36bn BHP lawsuit October 16, 2025 The law firm behind the most significant litigation to ever hit the English High Court has been lighting up headlines recently due to allegations around internal issues at the group. Back in 2018, in Liverpool, barrister Tom Goodhead and US lawyer Harris Pogust founded a law firm using an alternative business structure that focused on large-scale group [...]
Reeves faces ‘Groundhog Day’ as Budget tax hikes loom October 16, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves risks having to hike taxes ever higher in forthcoming budgets if she leaves herself with £9.9bn in headroom, a joint report by Barclays and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned. The research has suggested that spending cuts would send a “crucial” signal to the bond markets that the government had [...]
Centrica CEO: Regulate energy bosses like top bankers October 16, 2025 The boss of the UK’s largest energy supplier has called for the sector’s chief executives to be regulated like bankers, despite the government’s high-profile drive to slash red tape in a bid to boost the economy. During an evidence session with the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Centrica’s Chris O’Shea told MPs he was [...]