Vanquis swings to profit with recovery ‘on track’ August 7, 2025 Bradford-based lender Vanquis swung back into profitability for the first half of the year following on from a bruising period in the last 12 months. The bank recorded a profit before tax of £6.2m, compared to a £91.9m loss for the second half of 2024. Net interest income remained stable with one per cent growth [...]
Could this be Britain’s most expensive shed? August 7, 2025 As we report today, there’s been a nationwide downturn in construction. The issue is especially acute in London – the place housing is needed most – where the number of new home starts is hurtling towards zero. At this rate, there is just no way the government will meet its target of building 1.5m new [...]
LIVE: Bank of England cuts interest rates to four per cent August 7, 2025 The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to the lowest level in more than two years at four per cent. The decision to cut rates from 4.25 per cent comes after members were told to vote for a second time after facing a split decision. It follows the Bank’s chief economist, Huw Pill, telling [...]
Official statistics have become useless August 7, 2025 The pandemic has exposed the shortcomings in how we measure everything, from inflation to GDP to jobs, says Helen Thomas Statistics haven’t quite kept pace with the world they’re meant to measure. Designed for an economy of assembly lines and cheque books, many of today’s headline figures feel increasingly out of step with a digital, [...]
Starmer refuses to rule out tax rises – and criticises forecasters August 6, 2025 The Prime Minister has refused to comment on whether he will break Labour’s manifesto pledges on taxes at this year’s Autumn Budget as he slapped down independent forecasters’ claims the government faced a £50bn black hole. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) claimed Rachel Reeves would miss her borrowing target by £41.2bn [...]
London hit with a slowdown in mid-market deal activity August 6, 2025 Mid-market private equity investment in London suffered a fall in the first half of this year, as economic uncertainty and wider geopolitical issues affected investment activity. According to fresh analysis from professional services giant KPMG, the volume of mid-market private equity investment fell 14 per cent in the capital, with just 168 deals completed. KPMG’s [...]
AI-for-Excel firm Tracelight raises $3.6m to streamline finance work August 6, 2025 UK founded AI company, Tracelight, has raised over $3m in seed funding as it bids to hand laborious finance work over to AI tech. The London based company raised $3.6m (£2.7m) in seed funding from a series of venture capital firms, led by Chalfen Ventures with participation from Acequia Capital, Inovo and EF City AM [...]
Entrepreneur slams No 10 wealth grab – despite getting taxpayer-backed loan August 6, 2025 The founder of a hot tub and plunge pool business has said he understood why “the masses” were leaving Britain and was accelerating plans to do so himself, despite his firm recently receiving a taxpayer-funded loan to fuel its international expansion. Rob Carlin, who runs Derbyshire-based spa company Superior Wellness, blamed a succession of punitive [...]
Mortgage recovery hinges on a Bank of England interest rate cut August 6, 2025 Homeowners across the UK are catching a break as mortgage arrears fell for the first time since the cost-of-living crisis began – but a full recovery will hinge on the Bank of England’s decision on Thursday. Missed mortgage payments in the second quarter fell by 4.4 per cent across the UK, whilst direct debit rejections [...]
Quilter: Net inflows rise as baby boomer wealth transfer looms August 6, 2025 Wealth management firm Quilter has bounced back as it braces for an increase in generational wealth transfers as inheritance tax rule changes creep closer. The wealth manager recorded a three per cent increase in adjusted profit to £100m as well as a one percentage point improvement in its operating margin to 30 per cent after [...]