Stamp duty holiday first ‘meaningful change’ in a long time, says London Stock Exchange boss December 9, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has welcomed the government’s move to grant a stamp duty holiday to newly-listed entrants, hailing it the first “meaningful change” seen in a long time. Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a three year stamp duty holiday for fresh listings on the London market in her Budget last month. The Treasury’s plans have [...]
Reeves denies authorising Budget leaks December 9, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rejected accusations that she authorised leaks of the Budget to media outlets in the run-up to her statement, which led to sharp turns in bond markets and worsening business confidence. During Treasury Questions on Tuesday afternoon, Reeves was asked by her counterpart Mel Stride whether she authorised or allowed confidential details [...]
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 [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Fed interest rates, retail sales, GDP December 9, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog covering the FTSE 100 and other big market moves. Investors are bracing for a crunch decision at the Federal Reserve this Wednesday, with markets pricing in a 25 basis point cut to bring interest rates down to 3.5-3.75 per cent. Forecasters will be taking a [...]
Black Friday boost fails to materialise for Britain’s high streets December 9, 2025 UK retail sales failed to meet shops’ expectations this Black Friday as pre-budget jitters dampened spending. Retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent year on year in November, against a decline of 3.3 per cent in November 2024 and below the 12-month average growth of 2.5 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). [...]
How Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC fired up the FTSE 100 in 2025 December 9, 2025 If 2025 was supposed to be the year of the AI bubble, nobody told Britain’s banking giants. Amidst the noise of the US tech boom, the UK’s FTSE 100 banking heavyweights, Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC, have staged a formidable, if understated, rally. Lloyds delivered an astonishing 75.8 per cent gain, while Barclays surged 65 [...]
Pubs outraged as Selfridges and Harrods see business rates slashed December 8, 2025 Rachel Reeves is facing a backlash for a cut to business rates for the likes of Selfridges and Harrods while many pubs and restaurants see a huge hike. Analysis has found that a new shake-up of business rates will cause the tax bill of luxury stores to fall, while smaller venues face double-digit increases. Harrods’ [...]
UK fintech Plum follows Klarna in securing e-money licence December 8, 2025 Smart money app Plum has managed to secure an e-money licence from the City watchdog, City AM can reveal, even as the volume of application approvals slumps. Plum, which was founded by the former head of banking at Wise, Victor Trokoudes, in 2016, has received authorisation to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) from the Financial [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Reeves to be grilled, interest rates nerves, Netflix swoop, Employment Rights Bill December 8, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog covering the FTSE 100 and other big market moves. Rachel Reeves is set to be grilled by MPs at the Treasury Select Committee later this week on the Budget while economists will begin looking ahead to the final interest rates decisions of the year to be made [...]
Economic uncertainty leads to dwindling vacancies in London December 8, 2025 Permanent hires in London fell for the eighth consecutive month in November, driven by ongoing economic uncertainty and dwindling vacancies. According to the latest report from professional services firm KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the decrease in hiring quickened in the capital last month, with the reduction in permanent vacancies one of [...]