Millions of savers to face ‘hidden tax burden’ August 5, 2025 Millions of Brits will face a ‘hidden tax burden’ this year, fresh HMRC data has revealed, as thousands more are set to pay tax on the interest from their savings. Over 3.35m people are projected to be taxed on savings interest in 2025 – where the interest earned on savings exceeds the tax-free allowance and [...]
UK economy sees fastest services orders slowdown since Liz Truss August 5, 2025 Hopes of a quick recovery to the UK economy are fading as orders in the services sector fell at the fastest rate since Liz Truss’ mini-budget in late 2022, fresh data has suggested. S&P Global’s latest composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed a fall from a score of 52 in June to 51.5, which remains [...]
FCA fines Neil Woodford and Woodford IM £46m after fund failures August 5, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a £46m fine against once-renowned investment manager Neil Woodford and his former firm, Woodford Investment Management (WIM). The City watchdog handed Woodford a fine of £5.88m and banned him from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors. The authority also fined Woodford Investment Management £40m. [...]
Cut interest rates to four per cent, City AM Shadow MPC says August 5, 2025 Top economists have voted 8-1 for interest rates to be slashed by 25 basis points in City AM’s new Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Amid high inflation and falling job numbers, the Bank of England is set to face a difficult finely balanced decision on Thursday on whether to cut interest rates from the current [...]
FCA boss rejects criticism of motor finance redress August 5, 2025 The head of the UK’s financial watchdog has pushed back at industry claims that the wide scope of the motor finance redress scheme is “impractical”. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority said: “We know it is difficult. But you can’t say the law has been broken and it is too difficult to [...]
Brits are gloomy – and not just about the weather August 5, 2025 Writers often agonise over how a column performs. I can see how many people read the online version of the Editor’s Letter and while our analytics don’t yet tell me what people make of my opinions they often spark a lively debate on LinkedIn. That can be satisfying, but that’s a self-selecting crowd of people [...]
Inaccurate crime rate statistics have gaslighted the British public August 5, 2025 The UK government knows very little about the people it governs. From crime rates to the labour market, this has real consequences.
Voters say Nigel Farage’s Reform is the ‘party of UK business’ August 5, 2025 Reform UK is now seen as the most pro-business party in Westminster, fresh polling produced for City AM has found, in one of the first major signs the public is warming to Nigel Farage’s economic policies. Political parties have long battled to present themselves as a pro-business party, with Labour’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves wooing company bosses [...]
S&U: Motor finance redress scheme must show a changed FCA August 5, 2025 The chair of specialist lender S&U has said the motor finance redress scheme offers the UK’s financial watchdog the prime opportunity to turn its ‘regulate for growth’ rhetoric into action. Anthony Coombs hailed the “common sense” car finance ruling from the Supreme Court as attention turns to the response by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). But [...]
FTSE 100 banks outperform but face tougher waters ahead August 4, 2025 The FTSE 100’s banking constituents breezed through the second quarter results season as interest income remained stable and trading income soared on the back of market volatility. The ‘Big Five’ banks of London’s flagship stock index – Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered – pocketed a combined £12.8bn in the three months to June [...]