Reeves must reject this finger-wagging, fun-sapping, tax-loving nonsense October 8, 2025 The Chancellor may have felt in need of a stiff drink after absorbing the latest productivity figures handed to her by the Office for Budget Responsibility, and who could blame her? The OBR is widely expected to have significantly downgraded its productivity forecasts while at the same time conceding that it’s been overestimating productivity growth [...]
Average Brit would need lifetime of earnings to become wealthy October 8, 2025 The average British worker would need to save more than a lifetime’s worth of earnings to become wealthy, fresh analysis has revealed. The ever-widening wealth gap means it would take £1.3m – around 52 years’ worth of average earnings – to jump from the middle to the top of wealth distribution. This is over a [...]
Badenoch preferred as Prime Minister over Starmer October 8, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has been handed a boost ahead of her make-or-break Tory conference speech today as fresh polling has shown the Tory leader is preferred as Prime Minister over Keir Starmer. The latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy survey has shown that Badenoch leads Starmer by two percentage points as the country’s preferred Prime Minister, a marginal [...]
FCA orders lenders to pay £11bn in motor finance compensation October 7, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it expects lenders to make 14.2 million payouts to individuals affected by unfair motor finance agreements, totalling around £11bn in compensation. The FCA estimates people would receive around £700 per agreement, on average. It has also been calculated that around 85 per cent of eligible consumers would [...]
London maintains its commanding lead as largest foreign exchange centre October 7, 2025 London has maintained its commanding lead as the world’s largest foreign exchange centre, holding nearly double the US’s share. According to the latest data from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), daily foreign exchange trading in London reached $4,745bn this year, with its global market share of 38.7 per cent nearly twice that of the [...]
Mel Stride: I would raise income tax in Rachel Reeves’ position October 7, 2025 Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has said he would raise income taxes if he were in Rachel Reeves’ position, facing a £30bn black hole in the public finances. Speaking at a fringe event at the Tory party conference in Manchester, Stride said raising income taxes was the “cleanest” tax hike option available. His comments will likely [...]
Private asset funds predicted to surge over the next five years October 7, 2025 Private asset funds are expected to become a central force in driving the global economy over the next five years, after soaring to record highs in 2025. The value of private asset funds has surged 9.6 per cent this year to date, to a record $14.05 trillion (£10.46 trillion), a striking 77 per cent rise [...]
Lloyds: FTSE 100 giant’s slow wealth progress sparks takeover talk October 7, 2025 Lloyds’ “slow” progress in wealth management has sparked talks of a potential takeover as the banking titan looks to beef up its offering for high net worth individuals. The FTSE 100 giant exited the area in 2013 as part of a simplification drive after the financial crisis, with the reduction of its stake in St [...]
House prices fall amid pre-Budget jitters October 7, 2025 House prices fell last month, a leading price index has suggested, a warning that house buyers and sellers are nervy ahead of a potential tax raid on property. Halifax’s house price index suggested house prices dropped by 0.3 per cent on the month, putting the average property cost at £298,184. The annual rate of growth [...]
B&M shares tumble as boss vows to ‘correct operational weakness’ October 7, 2025 Shares in B&M have tumbled after the discount retailer reported sliding profits. The groups chief executive vowed to “correct the operational weaknesses” as the firm warned it expects to report pre-tax earnings of £198m in the six months to end September, a drop of 28 per cent on last year, while UK revenues were up [...]