Dire economy needs lifesaving surgery, before it’s too late April 24, 2025 When Rachel Reeves became Chancellor last summer, the biggest issue facing her was the existence (disputed by the Tories) of a £22bn black hole in the public finances. The political pain of cutting the winter fuel allowance was deemed necessary to balance the books and give the new government a clean sheet of paper on [...]
FTSE 100 down after US stocks slump April 21, 2025 The FTSE 100 opened seven points down on Tuesday morning, following a major US market slump on Bank Holiday Monday. US stock markets took another hit on Monday, with the S&P 500 closing down 2.38 per cent – at 5,158 – while the Nasdaq fell 2.5 per cent and and Dow Jones slumped 2.48 per [...]
Finance bosses bet on London amid US market jitters April 21, 2025 Financial services leaders have banked on London’s growth potential, according to a fresh survey from KPMG, as sentiment sours over the prospects for US financial markets. Over half of the UK’s finance bosses believed the negativity of London’s health as a financial hub was overplayed. KPMG’s latest UK Financial Services Sentiment Survey, which quizzes over [...]
Reynolds fails to confirm British Steel will get raw materials required April 13, 2025 The business secretary has declined to guarantee that British Steel will be able to secure enough raw materials in time to keep the Scunthorpe blast furnaces going. Jonathan Reynolds said he would not “make my situation or the nation’s situation more difficult” by commenting on specific commercial details, the day after taking emergency powers to [...]
If you think this government is pro-business, let me sell you Tower Bridge April 9, 2025 As the government continues to develop its response to Trump’s tariffs and the changing global economic order, the Prime Minister’s muddled thinking is troubling me. We now know that he wants to simultaneously “unleash” British business whilst “sheltering it from the storm,” like a parent who implores his child to “run, but not yet, and [...]
Saudi Arabia aiming for £17bn sports sector valuation by 2030 April 8, 2025 The world’s newest major sports player Saudi Arabia aims to have a sports sector worth $21bn (£16.5bn) by 2030. It comes as the Gulf state confirmed the sector was currently worth $8.5bn (£6.7bn) in 2025 having been worth just $1.3bn (£1bn) in 2016. The entirety of the UK’s sports sector contributes around £100bn to the [...]
FTSE and Europe in the red as US markets open on a downturn March 31, 2025 The latest escalation in Trump’s trade war painted global markets red on Monday. This new headache came ahead of Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2, which has investors bracing for a broad set of fresh tariffs. The President will slap 25 per cent tariffs on all automotive imports in the US from Wednesday, with [...]
Unlocking growth, delivering sustainability: London Stansted’s vision for the future March 27, 2025 | Sponsored The last few months have seen the new government make clear what it thinks about aviation’s role in achieving its growth mission. Through successive announcements about airport expansion, the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Transport Secretary have been among the senior Cabinet voices making clear a strong aviation sector is good for growth, and compatible with [...]
The Spring Statement takes us back to square one March 27, 2025 It might not have been a Budget, but the Chancellor may well wish that it had been. Constrained by her fiscal rules and her own insistence that yesterday’s statement would not constitute a major event, Rachel Reeves was left shuffling the few cards she held in search of a better hand. The search was in [...]
Analysis: Why Reeves faces political pressure over the Spring Statement March 25, 2025 Over the next 24 hours, Rachel Reeves will be putting the finishing touches to Wednesday’s Spring Statement. It marks her second fiscal event as Chancellor, and – despite the promised manifesto commitment of “one major fiscal event a year” – the economic backdrop, and wider political pressure, makes it hard to see the contents of [...]