Budget chaos takes toll on October growth as ‘prospects remain poor’ December 9, 2025 The UK economy is expected to have grown by just 0.1 per cent in October as firms grappled with Budget speculation and uncertainty, analysts have said. A Bloomberg poll of City economists predicted the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will pencil in next to no growth for the month. The expected slowdown is set to [...]
Reeves’ deregulation agenda won’t help growth this parliament, economist warns November 5, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ deregulation agenda is unlikely to make any improvement to economic growth before the end of this parliament, a leading economist has warned, in the latest sign the government’s growth mission is running out of steam. Professor Stephen Millard, Deputy Director of the National Institute for Social and Economic Research (NIESR) said it would [...]
Why the ONS would survive my cull of X accounts October 29, 2025 If I had to cull the number of accounts I follow on X to just ten, @ONS would make the grade. As for the other 9, I’d be reluctant to say goodbye to @PaintingsLondon, @MattCartoonist, @createstreets or @DiaperDiplomacy but I reckon as long as I retained the Office for National Statistics I could continue to [...]
Rachel Reeves and the tax and spend doom loop October 16, 2025 Rachel Reeves isn’t going to introduce a Wealth Tax, but she is going to tax the wealthy. She isn’t going to impose austerity, but she is going to get spending under control. Confused? Speculation over the contents of next month’s Budget has reached fever pitch, and it’s only going to ramp up from here. This [...]
FTSE 100 Live: GDP ‘stumbles’ to end of year, Premier Inn owner’s earnings dip October 16, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Amid all the doom and gloom, it was a moment to cheer for bankers in the Square Mile yesterday. Rules governing bonuses are getting relaxed, which could lead to a tastier payout come the new year. The new rules will allow part-payment of bonuses for the most [...]
eBay launches £3m AI programme for UK SMEs October 1, 2025 E-commerce giant eBay has unveiled a major initiative aimed at helping UK small businesses harness the power of AI and compete with larger enterprises. The company’s new programme, ‘AI activate’, is a £3m investment that will provide up to 10,000 small enterprises with fully funded access to OpenAI-powered tools and tailored training to boost productivity [...]
Business confidence ‘plumbs new depths’ ahead of Budget October 1, 2025 Business confidence fell to a fresh record low in September, as fears of another cost squeeze stoked an already dire operating environment that was found to have “worsened across the board”. According to an Institute of Directors (IoD) poll, private sector optimism plunged to the lowest level since the industry body started collecting data a [...]
UK economy stalls in second quarter September 30, 2025 The UK economy grew at a sluggish pace of 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year, official data has shown, another major setback for Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ as she hopes to oversee higher growth. The Office for National Statistics left its growth figure unchanged from a previous estimate as it confirmed its [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Asos and Close Brothers lead City stocks’ fall as economic growth slows September 30, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. When Rachel Reeves prepared her inaugural budget last year, she had little in the way of good news to impart to the people of Britain. The chancellor said she’d been left a bad inheritance, and had to raise tens of billions of pounds in extra taxes to plug spending [...]
Britain faces ‘looming’ crisis without spending cut, says Mel Stride-backed report September 15, 2025 Britain faces a looming fiscal crisis without reigning in spending and boosting the competitiveness of the City, according to a new report. With annual per capita growth stagnating and public spending ballooning, the government needs to bring growth back to the economy and boost living standards, according to the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) report [...]