William Hill-owner Evoke mulls sale after Budget raid December 10, 2025 William Hill-owner Evoke is considering whether to sell itself or break up parts of its business in response to the government’s multibillion pound raid on gambling firms at last month’s Budget. The betting giant, which also owns the 888 brands and Mr Green online casino, told investors that it had kicked off a strategic review [...]
Rachel Reeves: Leak to the FT was inaccurate December 10, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves slammed briefings provided to media outlets in the lead-up to the Budget as she referred to a specific Financial Times news report which had “partial and inaccurate” information. In a Treasury Select Committee hearing on Wednesday morning, the Chancellor hit out at leaks in the months leading up to the Budget, adding [...]
Interest rates: Bank of England hawks to ‘look through’ Budget’s disinflation December 9, 2025 Bank of England policymakers struck a hawkish tone on the future path of interest rates despite acknowledging that the upcoming Budget would lower inflation. Appearing before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Bank staff analysis agreed with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that measures in Rachel Reeves’ November statement would strip 0.5 percentage points [...]
Reeves denies authorising Budget leaks December 9, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rejected accusations that she authorised leaks of the Budget to media outlets in the run-up to her statement, which led to sharp turns in bond markets and worsening business confidence. During Treasury Questions on Tuesday afternoon, Reeves was asked by her counterpart Mel Stride whether she authorised or allowed confidential details [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Unilever demerger; House prices hit record high December 5, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Autumn Budget started nearly an hour earlier than expected on 26 November after the fiscal watchdog leaked its forecasts for the UK and with it all the Labour government’s economic policy for the next year. But start as you mean to end rings true [...]
Construction in worst downturn for five-and-a-half years December 4, 2025 The construction sector suffered its worst downturn in output for five and a half years last month, new figures have shown, in a warning to the Labour government as it hopes to build 1.5m homes by 2030. A monthly S&P Global survey showed that the decline in output rapidly accelerated over the month, with the [...]
Equity fund outflows hit fresh record as Budget uncertainty triggered UK selloff December 4, 2025 Equity funds have suffered their deepest and most prolonged bout of outflows on record with investors pulling more than £10bn in the past six months, fresh figures have revealed. UK-focused funds were the hardest-hit in November after haemorrhaging almost £847m, according to data compiled by global funds network Calastone, with analysts pointing to protracted Budget [...]
Businesses shed staff at ‘fastest rate since February’ December 3, 2025 Businesses laid off staff at the fastest rate in nine months as growth in the UK economy suffered a “renewed slowdown”, new data has indicated. S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for November suggested growth marginally changed over the month, with researchers pointing the finger at pre-Budget speculation keeping bosses on edge. The composite PMI [...]
FCA chief ducks committing to investigating Treasury briefings December 3, 2025 The boss of the City watchdog appeared to skirt committing to investigating Treasury briefings when pressed on the Labour government’s “possible market abuse” on Wednesday morning. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, has been lobbied by the Conservatives and other opponents to the Labour government to look into the rogue briefings on [...]
AI powers UK’s startup surge as founder numbers soar December 3, 2025 While Britain is trudging through another tax-heavy Budget, LinkedIn data has revealed signs of a founder boom, with AI doing much of the heavy lifting. As Rachel Reeves attempted to boost startup and scale-up appetite in her Budget, LinkedIn revealed that the number of UK professionals adding ‘founder’ to their profile has jumped 69 per [...]