Healey promises Budget will ‘meet the moment’ October 15, 2026 Chancellor John Healey has promised that the Budget will “meet the moment” as rising costs are set to hamper households and businesses over the next few months. In interviews in Bangkok for the International Monetary Fund’s meetings, Healey said he had acted from “week one” to relieve pressures facing businesses and households with a blitz [...]
Entain and Rank warn Budget tax hikes threaten betting shops and jobs October 15, 2026 Two of Britain’s biggest gambling operators have warned John Healey that further tax increases in this month’s Budget could force betting shops and casinos to close, putting jobs and investment at risk. Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, and Rank Group, which operates Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo, issued separate warnings on Thursday despite [...]
British firms reshape workforce for AI amid staff resistance to office return October 15, 2026 Top bosses at British businesses have said lingering resistance to returning to the office remains a challenge, as City firms focus on redesigning roles to support human-AI collaboration. According to KPMG’s 2026 global CEO outlook, investment in AI remains a top priority for global business leaders, as most British bosses (87 per cent) expect to [...]
Healey plans £1bn e-commerce crackdown to fund retail tax breaks October 14, 2026 John Healey is preparing to announce a £1bn tax crackdown on online marketplaces like Amazon and Temu to fund tax cuts for high street shops. At the Budget later this month, the Chancellor is expected to make e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Ebay and Temu responsible for collecting tax owed by the sellers using their site, [...]
Retail sales ‘sluggish’ as shoppers feel cautious ahead of Budget October 13, 2026 British retail sales showed “sluggish” growth last month as shoppers became increasingly cautious ahead of the Autumn Budget. Total sales at retailers increased by 1.3 per cent in the 12 months to September, compared to 2.3 per cent growth in September 2025, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Big Four giant KPMG. The [...]
London Stock Exchange faces ‘material depopulation’ October 12, 2026 The London Stock Exchange is facing “material depopulation” following a boom in the M&A landscape dominated by overseas buyers, a top investment bank has warned. Some 42 bids for London-listed firms are currently ongoing with a total market capitalisation of £74bn, according to a new note from Peel Hunt. The figure is more than double [...]
City finance jobs shrink as Budget fears add to cautious mood October 12, 2026 Finance jobs in London shrunk in September as employers weighed up the raft of economic pressures and uncertainty around the forthcoming Budget. City vacancies tumbled 30 per cent to 1,200 by the end of the third quarter, compared with 1,719 in July at the start of the three-month window according to recruiter Morgan McKinley. Jobs [...]
Retail bosses ramp up pressure on Healey to cut ‘ridiculous’ tax burden October 11, 2026 The bosses of Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have piled further pressure on the government to slash the “ridiculous” tax burden facing high street firms. Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, called on Chancellor John Healey to “restore hope” within the retail industry by turning a corner from Labour’s last two budgets, which he [...]
City minister insists capital markets reform ‘not a job done’ October 11, 2026 A top Treasury minister has opened the door to further capital markets reforms after saying the government’s job was not done in improving listing incentives. Lucy Rigby, who serves as the economic secretary to the Treasury, otherwise known as City minister, told City AM the government was “continually looking for ways that we can ensure [...]
City chiefs warn Healey bank tax hike could drive businesses out of UK October 9, 2026 Top finance industry chiefs have warned the Chancellor that hiking taxes on the banking sector in the forthcoming Budget could drive businesses and capital out of the UK. Bosses of the City’s biggest industry bodies – including UK Finance, TheCityUK and the CBI – have written to John Healey calling for him to avoid raising [...]