‘Not a second to waste’: City of London calls for action to back up Reeves plans January 29, 2025 The City of London has warned the government there “isn’t a second to waste” in pushing through its growth plans today after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out proposals designed to kickstart investment into the economy. In a speech in Oxfordshire, Reeves looked to reset the government’s economic agenda in a speech which committed to [...]
Next CEO backs Lords battle against National Insurance tax rise January 29, 2025 The chief executive of retail giant Next has backed an attempt in the House of Lords to change the planned change to employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Lord Wolfson has supported amendments to the bill which have been tabled by Baroness Noakes. In Labour’s Budget last Autumn, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the government would [...]
‘Deregulation is essential’: Starmer vows to slash red tape in bid for growth January 29, 2025 Keir Starmer vowed to deregulate Britain and cut through “thickets of red tape” today as he tried to reboot his government’s handling of the economy following months of anaemic growth and criticism from business. In an article for the Times, the Prime Minister wrote “deregulation is essential” and warned investors were shunning the UK due [...]
Rachel Reeves to unveil £65m investment in EV charging firm January 29, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves will unveil a £65m investment into an electric car charging company as part of a much-anticipated growth speech on Wednesday. City AM understands the new National Wealth Fund (NWF) will take an equity stake in Connected Kerb alongside Aviva Investors, the global asset management branch of Aviva Group. The NWF will commit [...]
Heathrow expansion will test whether Labour are serious about growth January 29, 2025 Keir Starmer’s Damascene conversion to a third runway at Heathrow, which he previously voted against, is welcome. But if he’s serious he will need to take decisive steps to curb the blockers’ tactics – in particular, by reforming judicial review, says Sir Simon Clarke “Congratulations to the climate campaigners. There is no more important challenge [...]
Grow, baby, grow… but will Labour’s growth agenda be enough? January 29, 2025 City AM’s politics reporter, Jessica Frank-Keyes, unpacks the week in Westminster. Today, she tackles Labour’s growing promises. Picture a graph with the x axis stretching from 1800 to the present day. The data is represented as a fairly flat line along the bottom, up to about 1960. Then it bumps around at about a quarter [...]
Rachel Reeves vows to fight for economic growth January 28, 2025 The Chancellor will declare that “growth won’t come without a fight” as she unveils her plan to turnaround Britain’s ailing economy with billions of pounds of investment and new infrastructure projects. Reeves will pledge an £80bn boom to the economy from a new Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor in a move that comes after the pensions industry [...]
CMA chair pledges to speed up decision-making after government backlash January 28, 2025 The new chair of the competition watchdog has pledged to speed up its decision making and bring in outside expertise as part of plans to reshape the agency following months of criticism. Doug Gurr, a former Amazon executive who was parachuted in to lead the body after ministers ousted his predecessor last week, said “lengthy [...]
Nearly a million extra savers face shock tax bills January 28, 2025 Almost 1m more savers could be hit with shock tax bills this year, Shawbrook Bank has warned – unless they keep their cash in an ISA. More than 6m savers will pay tax on interest in 2025, up 800,000 from the number of savers who had to pay tax on interest last year. This is [...]
CMA to “brainstorm” growth ideas with business groups as pressure mounts January 27, 2025 The competition watchdog is set to be grilled by some of the UK’s biggest business bodies tomorrow as it looks to shore up confidence following the ousting of its chair by ministers last week. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has faced anger from both the government and private sector over what has been [...]