By: Felix Armstrong

Retail Reporter Felix Armstrong is City AM's retail reporter, covering retail, hospitality and property news. He has previously written for The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The i Paper. Email Felix at Felix.Armstrong@cityam.com

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‘Dwarfed by other costs’ – Why cutting business rates for pubs won’t save the sector

July 24, 2026

Andy Burnham has unveiled his long-awaited support for the UK’s struggling pubs, but the hospitality industry is contending with far more pressures than just business rates Andy Burnham’s pledge to cut business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues is expected to save each venue more than £1,000 next year in a move that comes [...]
Brits dodge the high street as heatwave boosts online shopping

July 24, 2026

Retail sales jumped in June as the heatwave and heavy discounting drove Brits towards online shopping. The volume of retail sales jumped by one per cent in June, having slowed slightly from 1.2 per cent growth in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Online shopping grew to the largest proportion of total [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops below $100; Trump in tariff blitz

July 24, 2026

Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks jumped on Friday after oil eased back after reaching two-month highs on Thursday. The benchmark price of Brent crude oil slipped 4.1 per cent on Friday to $96.63 per barrel. Prices had surged to $100 following attacks by the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia based in Yemen, on [...]
Housebuilder hits a wall: How did Vistry become the UK’s most shorted stock?

July 24, 2026

Vistry, the “nation’s favourite housebuilder,” has become the UK’s most shorted stock. From a shift to a bold new model to hopes that it can fuel Burnham’s housing vision, Felix Armstrong unpicks the firm’s recent history Back in 2024, Vistry boss Greg Fitzgerald was brimming with optimism. The housebuilder’s ambitious switch from a private market [...]
Social media ban driving ‘screen-free’ sales, The Works boss says

July 23, 2026

The boss of discount retailer The Works has said the government’s crackdown on social media usage has driven customers towards the “screen-free activities” offered in his stores. Gavin Peck, chief executive of the Aim-listed retailer, believes Labour’s incoming social media ban has pushed up demand among parents for analogue activities for their children and was [...]
‘Ever-widening gap’: Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin urges Burnham to cut more pub taxes

July 23, 2026

JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has called on the Prime Minister to go further to reduce the soaring tax burden faced by pubs. The chairman of the UK’s best-known pub chain said Burnham’s decision to slash business rates for pubs is an “implicit recognition that the hospitality sector is over taxed”. The Prime Minister announced [...]
Easyjet takes £200m profit hit in Iran war travel chaos

July 23, 2026

Easyjet has revealed a £200m profit hit as the budget airline battles with the soaring energy costs and falling travel demand caused by the Iran war. The FTSE 250 carrier posted an £85m profit in the three months to June, down 70 per cent on £286m in the previous year, as passenger volume slipped by [...]
Burnham to cut pub business rates by 20 per cent

July 23, 2026

Andy Burnham has unveiled a 20 per cent cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues. The £100m commitment will be funded by cracking down on businesses, like vape shops and tax-avoidant online sellers, which “do not make a positive contribution to local communities,” the government said. The measure comes as part of [...]
As it happened: Stocks slip as oil hits $100 following Houthi attacks on tankers

July 23, 2026

Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. Stocks slipped on Thursday morning as oil surged back to $100 per barrel for the first time since May. Brent crude barrelled up after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed to have attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea. The US last night launched its [...]
FTSE 100 Segro ‘minded to accept’ £14bn Prologis takeover

July 22, 2026

Segro has said it is “minded to accept” the £14bn takeover offer tabled by US real estate giant Prologis. The FTSE 100 property firm said on Wednesday evening that the terms of Prologis’s fourth bid are at a level it would be willing to recommend to its shareholders. Segro’s update came just five minutes before [...]

Money market funds surge in popularity as investors grapple market volatility

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The Kaare Klint building refashioned as Copenhagen’s coolest new hotel

By: Felix Armstrong

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