Rachel Reeves could use bank windfall tax to plug Labour’s U-turns July 31, 2025 Rachel Reeves could launch a fresh tax grab on banks to plug the spending holes left by Labour’s recent U-turns, new analysis has found. The Chancellor is poised to hike taxes in the Autumn Budget after a series of government policy switches eroded her already wafer-thin fiscal headroom of £9.9bn. This comes as fresh research [...]
Barclays joins FTSE 100 peers in warning against bank tax hike July 29, 2025 Barclays has become the latest banking giant to send a firm warning to Rachel Reeves to avoid bank tax hike as the Chancellor scrambles to maintain her wafer-thin fiscal headroom. The FTSE 100 giant’s boss CS Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, said the government’s mission for growth would not align with slapping a tax increase on [...]
FCA softens remortgaging rules in dash for growth July 22, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to remove red tape on remortgaging in the latest sign public bodies are tearing up their rulebooks to align with the government’s growth agenda. In new measures introduced by the City regulator, mortgage holders will be able to reduce the terms of their borrowing and switch to new [...]
Banks shut eight branches a week since 2016 July 10, 2025 British banks have accelerated their retreat from the high street, shutting an average of eight branches a week since 2016 in a dash to bulk up digital offerings. Nearly 3,700 sites closed between 2016 and 2024, creating 41 ‘banking deserts,’ which refer to local authorities where at least one branch shut for every 10,000 residents. [...]
Mansion House gives Rachel Reeves a chance to change the course July 4, 2025 Rachel Reeves has a chance to move from ambition to action at this year's Mansion House Speech. Lets hope she takes it, writes David Postings.
Will banks be able to escape a Reeves’ tax raid this Autumn? June 27, 2025 As Rachel Reeves watches her fiscal headroom crumble with every Labour U-turn, the Chancellor may return to her budget mantra that those with the “broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden”. Lenders managed to skirt a tax raid in the 2024 budget after lobbyists warned it could damage the sector’s international competitiveness, but renewed fiscal [...]
Simply: Fintech SME lender expands loan book as firms turn to debt finance June 17, 2025 Simply Asset Finance notched a record loan total in the last year as firms turned to debt financing to fuel their expansion plans. The UK lender to small- and medium-sized enterprises topped £1.75bn in the total cumulative value of all loans they’ve approved and funded after the firm’s loan book expanded by £505m over 2024. [...]
High street banks ramp up SME lending to highest since 2022 June 16, 2025 High street banks are scaling up their lending to small businesses, with the first quarter of 2022 hitting the highest amount since 2022. Lenders issued £4.6bn worth of loans in the first three months of the year marking a 14 per cent year-on-year jump. The rise was driven by a surge of lending to agriculture, [...]
Nationwide to Greggs: King’s honours list champions UK business leaders June 14, 2025 Entrepreneurs and company chiefs in tech, recruitment and banking have been recognised for their contributions to UK business in the King’s birthday honours. Microsoft UK boss Clare Barclay and ceramics founder Emma Bridgewater, dubbed the “queen of pottery”, received damehoods for services to business. Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie, who led a £2.3bn takeover of [...]
Was Reeves’ Spending Review a fintech endorsement? June 14, 2025 Rachel Reeves has promised to back UK fintech and in Labour’s inaugural Spending Review, she piled billions into the tech sector. The Chancellor handed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) a hefty £16.5bn budget as she took the chop to other departments. DSIT’s expenditure limit is set to grow 7.4 per cent by [...]