FTSE 100 Live: Budget to send borrowing costs soaring; New AIM IPO December 4, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Sir Keir Starmer has asked the British public to judge his premiership on the government’s ability to “make people feel better off”. Well, in the capital the Prime Minister shouldn’t be expecting a warm reception from young Brits, who are feeling the pinch of the [...]
The best (and worst) Christmas sandwiches in supermarkets, from Tesco to Pret December 3, 2025 Has there ever been a more exciting way to pep up a working lunchtime than with a Christmas sandwich? Probably. Still, take a moment out of your day this week to celebrate the arrival of December by treating yourself to a seasonal sarnie (if you’re a seasonal Scrooge, here is our pick of the most [...]
Christmas adverts 2025 reviewed… Part 2 December 3, 2025 To see part one of our Christmas adverts review click here Are you starting to feel Christmassy yet? It tried it’s damndest to snow last week didn’t it? And what with the lights getting switched on all over town ‘the season’ is increasingly hard to avoid. To be honest I gave in this week, and had [...]
Paragon Banking chief eyes acquisitions after capital boost December 3, 2025 The boss of Paragon Banking Group has acquisitions in mind after the lender received a major tailwind from regulatory reforms this year. Nigel Terrington has said the loosening of banks’ capital requirement rules, known as MREL (minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities), will open up further growth prospects for mid-cap lenders. The boss [...]
Candy Kittens: ‘We want to be the Unilever of challenger brands’ December 2, 2025 When Ed Williams and Jamie Laing first set up Candy Kittens in 2012, they dreamt of being bought by Unilever. Now – 13 years later – they’ve bought healthy snack brand Graze from the consumer giant for a fraction of what Unilever paid for it in 2019. “Everybody’s supermarkets are dominated by big players,” co-founder [...]
Argos loses more than £200m as over 2,000 jobs cut December 1, 2025 Argos lost more than £200m during its latest financial year as over it cut over 2,000 jobs. The retailer, which is owned by FTSE 100 supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, has reported a pre-tax loss of £223.2m for the 12 months to 1 March, 2025. The loss comes after Argos posted a pre-tax profit of £37.3m in [...]
Lord Lee: My own plan for fixing financial literacy December 1, 2025 Virtually everyone agrees that there is and has been a near total failure to teach young people about the world of finance, investment, mortgages, etc. in schools. Politicians of all persuasion have failed lamentably in this area. It is truly appalling that many young people are now more likely to speculate in cryptocurrencies than invest [...]
BCC boss: Enough taxes. The Budget must tell a positive story November 25, 2025 Last autumn, the British Chambers of Commerce and its members were left shell-shocked when a party that promised to be the most ‘pro-business in history’ used its maiden Budget to deliver a succession of hammer blows to the private sector. Having shouldered the burden last year, boss Shevaun Haviland wants this year’s instalment to paint [...]
Asda raises almost £600m from supermarket sell-off November 20, 2025 Asda has raised close to £600m from three deals for its supermarkets ahead of a looming debt repayment to previous owner Walmart. The grocery giant struck sale-and-leaseback deals for its supermarkets totalling £568m, according to the FT. It raised £467m in two deals with New York-based asset manager Blue Owl and London-listed Supermarket Income REIT [...]
Our savings are lazy – the Budget must put them to work November 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves should cut the cash ISA limit and redirect savings into British equities, says Steven Fine The old saying in finance is that “money never sleeps”: but a lot of ours is lazy. Today Britain sits on nearly a trillion pounds of ISA savings, yet too little is being put to work in our [...]