FTSE 100 Live: HSBC carries blue-chips; Starmer eyes China trade January 27, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Gold’s magnificent rally was continuing on Tuesday morning after breaking through the $5,100 mark for the first time. The flurry to safe haven assets notched up after Trump threatened Canada with 100 per cent tariffs if the country “made a deal with China”. Last week [...]
Revolution Bars owner appoints administrators as hospitality crisis deepens January 26, 2026 Dozens of bars up and down the country could soon shut their doors for the last time as one of Britain’s best-known hospitality groups prepares to appoint administrators. Revel Collective, which owns more than sixty venues comprising the Revolution Bars group as well as the Peach pub chain, said it expects to appoint administrators within [...]
Flight prices to jump as regional airports hit by rocketing tax bills January 26, 2026 Air passengers are being warned to brace for ticket hikes as regional airports across the UK face “unprecedented” rises in property tax next year. Regional airports are among the sectors facing the steepest increases in business rates in the UK amid an overhaul of property valuations underpinning the tax. While London’s Heathrow and Gatwick are [...]
Hundreds of hospitality firms close as cost pressures take toll January 26, 2026 The “relentless” increase in operating costs put hospitality businesses under increasing pressure in the final quarter of last year, industry figures suggest. According to consumer intelligence firm NIQ, there were 382 fewer licensed premises at the end of December than there were three months prior, equivalent to four closures per day. Casual dining sites and [...]
Andy Haldane: Labour has ‘no nose for business’ January 26, 2026 The Labour government lacks anyone with a “nose for business”, Andy Haldane, the former chief economist of the Bank of England, has said in his latest critique against ministers’ quest for growth. Haldane, whose criticism of Budget leaks last year added to pressure on Rachel Reeves, has taken aim at ministers leading Labour’s growth mission [...]
Labour erupts into civil war after Starmer allies block Burnham’s by-election bid January 25, 2026 The Labour party was thrown into a civil war on Sunday after a group of Keir Starmer’s closest allies on the ruling committee blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the forthcoming by-election in the North West. Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted in an eight to one ruling against Burnham on Sunday meaning the metro [...]
Reeves told City at ‘critical juncture’ after claims of golden age January 25, 2026 Rachel Reeves has been handed a firm warning that Britain’s financial ecosystem is facing a “critical juncture” even after the Chancellor touted a “golden age” of opportunity for the City. The Chancellor faces a call to action following a report from lobby group TheCityUK and Big Four consultancy giant PwC revealing the “hard truth” that [...]
Fund giant slashes UK exposure as investors sour on Britain January 23, 2026 One of the world’s largest money managers is shedding its investments in the UK, after investors said they wanted more of their cash to be allocated overseas despite a government push to encourage investment in domestic equities. Vanguard, the world’s second largest asset manager, said it would reduce its £52bn Life Strategy fund’s UK equity [...]
Private sector bounces back but Reeves leaves hospitality reeling January 23, 2026 The UK’s private sector expanded at the fastest rate in nearly two years in the first month of 2026 but the reeling hospitality sector was still feeling the crunch from Labour policy. The latest Flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from S&P Global showed a major uptick in the all-important services sector, which is often seen [...]
Nigel Farage: Reform will tax the banks even if they don’t like it January 22, 2026 Nigel Farage has confirmed Reform will slap a tax on the UK’s banking giants in the latest dramatic escalation of his party’s tensions with the City. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Davos, Farage said: “This will be tough for banks to accept but I am sorry – the drain on public finances [...]