UK needs new settlement with EU, business group boss urges March 20, 2025 The UK’s businesses need a new settlement with the EU, the boss of one of the biggest business groups is urging. Shevaun Haviland, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), is calling for growth-driven improvements to the UK-EU relationship. It comes ahead of the organisation’s 2025 Driving International Trade Conference in central London, on [...]
London closes in on New York as top financial hub but risks remain March 20, 2025 London has edged closer to becoming the world’s top financial centre, fresh research shows, but concerns have been raised over the City’s future competitiveness. The 37th edition of Z/Yen Group’s Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 37) showed London maintained its second-place ranking amongst the world’s top financial centres, whilst climbing 12 points from its last [...]
Bullish Gen Z bucks consumer confidence trend March 20, 2025 Gen Z’s plans to go big on spending in the next three months have contributed to a rise in consumer confidence, a new survey has suggested. Barclays last year predicted in November that people born between 1996 and 2010 would account for around 39 per cent of retail spending by 2030. Now a new survey [...]
London firms struggling to recruit staff as people want to WFH March 20, 2025 Firms in London are struggling to recruit staff as over four in five businesses have vacancies, according to a new survey of 1,000 companies. Mayor Sadiq Khan recently announced plans to boost economic growth in the capital, but the latest survey by BusinessLDN suggests he may have a mountain to climb before he achieves his [...]
Trump’s attack on Big Law puts London lawyers into an awkward place March 20, 2025 US President Donald Trump has set his sights on a new target for his attacks: American lawyers and law firms. But this problem has shifted across the Atlantic
More than half of Brits are ‘reliant on the state’, think tank says March 19, 2025 More than half of the UK population are reliant on the state for income, a leading think tank has said. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall on Tuesday announced a string of welfare reforms aimed at getting Brits back into the workforce. But the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) has suggested that the number of those [...]
Jeremy Hunt: OBR ‘overly exaggerated’ Brexit impact March 19, 2025 Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has criticised the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) for making “overly exaggerated” claims about Brexit’s impact on the economy. The OBR released a series of gloomy predictions in recent years claiming that Brexit had stifled growth and wrecked trade. But Hunt has claimed that leaving the European Union has in fact [...]
UK government backs Manchester United 100,000-seat stadium March 19, 2025 Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy has said the government is keen to “crack on” in supporting Manchester United’s plan to build a 100,000-seater stadium. Manchester United and co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe unveiled plans for a “New Trafford” development adjacent to the Theatre of Dreams that would include a number of [...]
Boat Race: Oxford and Cambridge spat leads to bans for three rowers March 19, 2025 A row between Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Clubs over Boat Race rules surrounding selection has seen three rowers banned. Matt Heywood – a former under-23 world champion – Molly Foxell and Kate Cowley will not be able to compete for Cambridge because they do not have “degree level” qualifications. The trio are PGCE – [...]
Grangemouth: Green future for oil refinery needs £3.5bn, report finds March 19, 2025 Delivering a green future for the Grangemouth oil refinery will require around £3.5bn in private investment, a report has found. The long-awaited Project Willow study, which itself cost £1.5m, sets out nine options for the future of the industrial cluster in central Scotland. Hundreds of jobs are set to be lost this year when the [...]