Premier Inn owner warns of ‘mounting pressure’ of tax rises before Budget October 16, 2025 Whitbred, the owner of Premier Inn, has warned that tax rises are becoming more likely and could pose a serious risk to the UK’s hospitality industry. Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a £40bn gap in the nation’s finances, which is ever-more likely to be filled by a tax-raising Autumn Budget. The target of those tax rises [...]
Wall Street banks toast to $130bn revenue in deal making boom October 15, 2025 Wall Street banks raked in bumper profits, comfortably breezing past analyst expectations in the third quarter, driven by the continued strength of trading desks and a sharp revival in deal making. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup brushed past estimates on Tuesday, with Jamie Dimon’s banking juggernaut collecting $14.4bn (£10.8bn) in profit – a 12 [...]
JP Morgan bulks up financial cushion as Dimon warns of uncertainty October 14, 2025 JP Morgan has bulked up its financial cushion against loan losses as chair Jamie Dimon warns of heightened risk and global uncertainty. The lender set aside an additional $810m (£610.2m) to cover potential losses from unpaid loans. This defensive money consisted of $608m earmarked for consumer loans – such as credit cards and mortgages – [...]
Can Liverpool really add £10bn to its economy? October 13, 2025 The Labour mayor of the Liverpool City Region has unveiled a 10-year plan to create tens of thousands of jobs and add £10bn to the local economy. Steve Rotheram’s “bold and ambitious” plan has been described as a “roadmap” to increasing wages, driving investment, raising living standards and providing better services for the region’s 1.6m [...]
Reeves ‘pressures business chiefs to talk up the UK economy’ October 11, 2025 Rachel Reeves has ramped up pressure on business leaders to “talk up” the economy in the run up to the Autumn Budget. The Chancellor has framed her rallying cry to businesses that if they do not support a positive narrative around the economy, they risk Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister. The Treasury has warned top [...]
Recession fears spike after Trump threatens new China tariffs October 11, 2025 President Donald Trump has said he will slap an additional 100 per cent tax on Chinese imports by 1 November or sooner spiking recession fears after global markets tumbled. Taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump cited the export controls placed on rare earths by China as the reason for the fresh levy. The President [...]
Average Brit would need lifetime of earnings to become wealthy October 8, 2025 The average British worker would need to save more than a lifetime’s worth of earnings to become wealthy, fresh analysis has revealed. The ever-widening wealth gap means it would take £1.3m – around 52 years’ worth of average earnings – to jump from the middle to the top of wealth distribution. This is over a [...]
Equity fund exodus as market highs ‘running on fumes’ October 7, 2025 Equity fund outflows hit a fresh record in the third quarter despite leading share indices reaching market highs, fresh data has revealed. Investors pulled £3.64bn from equity funds in the three months to the end of September, according to figures compiled by global funds network Calastone, representing the worst three-month outflow on record. That included [...]
Construction sector hit by waning activity ahead of Budget October 6, 2025 Business activity expectations in the construction industry have fallen to the lowest since the end of 2022 as companies remained glum on future outlook ahead of the Autumn Budget. The latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from S&P Global showed construction output showed the industry hit its highest level for three months at 46.2 – though [...]
‘Subdued’ services sector suffers steep drop as tax hikes bite October 3, 2025 Business activity expansion fell to a five-month low after a “subdued” services sector experienced a dull end to the third quarter. S&P’s UK Services Purchasing Managers Index Business Activity tumbled to 50.8 in September, falling steeply from the 16-month high of 54.2 secured in August. “This summer’s acceleration in output growth is now looking like [...]