UK firms slash consulting spend amid rising AI adoption September 8, 2026 British businesses are paring back their spending on consulting firms as they turn to AI for problem-solving, according to City AM’s new Business Spend Pulse. Median spending on consulting fees fell by 1.9 per cent in August compared to last year, the tracker found, despite an overall 2.2 per cent increase in corporate spending. That [...]
Funding Circle boss bows out as fintech lifts profit forecast September 8, 2026 The boss of small business lender Funding Circle has laid out plans for her departure as the fintech lifted its profit forecast for the year ahead. Lisa Jacobs, who has led the firm since 2022, will step down as chief executive by “no later than September 2027,” the firm said on Tuesday. The fintech chief [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 waivers; oil nears $100 on new Hormuz sanctions September 8, 2026 Welcome back to City AM’s FTSE 100 liveblog. The UK’s blue-chip index slipped on Tuesday morning, as investors weighed fresh tensions in the Middle East which boosted London’s oil majors but dragged on other members. Oil prices continued to march upwards. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – gained another 1.5 per [...]
How the NHS backlog fuelled a private equity gold rush in UK health market September 8, 2026 Private equity firms are circling the UK’s healthcare market as NHS backlogs push a wave of patients towards private providers, experts have said. Britain’s biggest private hospital operator, Spire Healthcare, which operates 38 private hospitals, on Sunday agreed to a £1bn takeover by Toscafund Asset Management. Earlier this year, private healthcare property firm Assura agreed [...]
Healey wants to focus on the future but business is haunted by past mistakes September 8, 2026 John Healey has a reassuring voice. If he revealed dry rot in your house or rang to tell you of suspicious activity on your account, you’d feel oddly calm about it. He’s not a gifted public speaker, but there is an ease and a glimmer of warmth that stands in stark contrast to the earnest [...]
The UK can still lead in tokenisation – but only if we move fast enough September 8, 2026 Tokenisation will reshape market infrastructure whatever we do – the question is whether the UK wants to shape it or adapt to decisions made elsewhere.
Unleash growth or you’ll have to hike taxes even higher, FTSE 100 boss warns Healey September 8, 2026 The government must unleash growth in the forthcoming Budget or ministers will be forced to hike taxes even higher at future fiscal events, the boss of the largest player in the UK pensions market has warned. Andy Briggs, the chief executive of Standard Life, told City AM the UK’s ageing population leaves the Chancellor John [...]
Hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos joins UK wealth exodus September 7, 2026 The hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos has joined the ranks of ultra-wealthy residents in leaving the UK, in a decision likely to cost the government billions of pounds lost tax revenue. Rokos, the founder of his namesake investment firm Rokos Capital Management who paid more than £300m in tax last year alone, is leaving the [...]
Can John Healey deliver the growth the UK needs? September 7, 2026 The Chancellor John Healey says growth will provide the “pathway out of indebtedness and into prosperity”. But the path is a difficult one to tread, write Mauricio Alencar. When it was announced that John Healey would be delivering a speech in Coventry, it was assumed that he would be visiting Jaguar Land Rovers’s headquarters with [...]
UK government slashes corporate red tape, cutting paperwork ‘longer than The Hobbit’ September 7, 2026 Ministers have announced sweeping reforms to corporate reporting, aiming to save businesses over £450m annually by ditching “Hobbit-length” paperwork. Under the overhaul, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including local family firms, will be exempt from certain reporting forms and audits, aiming to save businesses thousands of pounds and hours of administrative work. The Department for [...]