Summer of sorrow: Property sector bears brunt of August administration spike September 18, 2026 Nearly 2,000 businesses went into insolvency in August as economic pressures and ongoing geopolitical tensions weighed on British firms. According to new figures the Insolvency Service released on Friday, 1,946 firms went into insolvency in England and Wales in August, flat compared to July and down from 2,007 in August 2025. The data showed that [...]
Tories consult senior barrister over ‘outrageous’ Wandsworth tax hike September 18, 2026 Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservative party has consulted a senior barrister to challenge the government over local funding cuts, following the recent controversy over looming tax hikes at Wandsworth Council. Wandsworth Council, which is Tory-run, has recently announced that taxes will rise by 94 per cent for ‘band D’ residents, resulting in taxpayers having [...]
Mark my words: tax rises are coming September 18, 2026 After Rachel Reeves’ tax raids of over £40bn in her 2024 Budget and £26bn in the 2025 edition, it should be inconceivable that John Healey will come back for more. Yet all the sights point in that direction, says Emma Revell No City AM reader could be unaware that Britain’s current economic outlook is not [...]
Nationalise Thames Water and block private rescue deal, MPs tell Burnham September 18, 2026 Andy Burnham and his government are facing increasing pressure to take control of Thames Water after a group of MPs warned a rescue deal led by its creditors should be rejected. A group of the stricken utility’s lenders, known as London & Valley Water, is vying to seize control of the company in a £10bn [...]
Ignorance is no excuse for Labour’s economic failures September 18, 2026 John Healey is copying Rachel Reeves’ technique of gaslighting the nation into thinking he had no idea what the bind markets and OBR have been screaming at every fiscal event, says Tom Harwood It feels like “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher should have been irritatingly on repeat every morning this week. Why? [...]
Investec’s South Africa surge offsets cooling UK performance September 18, 2026 Investec doubled down on its full-year targets today after a surge in activity in South Africa helped offset a slump in the UK. The FTSE 100 lender projected earnings per share to land between 41.7p to 43.3p, a three per cent to seven per cent rise from the prior year. The growth projection was largely [...]
British retail sales defy forecasts with surprise August rise September 18, 2026 UK retail sales unexpectedly rose in August, defying forecasts of a decline. Despite renewed pressure from higher fuel prices, hot weather drove a strong rebound in both online shopping and department store sales. Economists had expected sales to fall 0.2 per cent but sales volumes rose 0.5 per cent during the month, reversing a 0.5 [...]
As it happened: Stocks slip as London’s rally loses momentum September 18, 2026 Welcome back to City AM‘s FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks in London fell this morning as a three-day rally faded and erased much of the gains made following the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates yesterday. The FTSE 100 was trading down nearly one per cent at 12:50pm, dragged lower by falls for Shell [...]
Barclays staff revolt against tightened work from home policy September 17, 2026 Barclays is facing growing backlash from its own staff over a decision to tighten its home working policy. Thousands of staff have backed a call to exempt from the bank’s decision to enforce working in the office three days a week. Employees at the London listed bank have also demanded a one-off payment to offset [...]
Interest rates look set to be held amid bond market pressure September 17, 2026 The Bank of England is expected to leave Interest rates unchanged even as bond traders raised expectations for upcoming hikes and the Federal Reserve opted to tighten monetary policy in the US. The Bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee is expected to back leaving interest rates at 3.75 per cent although policymakers are set to be [...]