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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Mike Ashley’s Frasers ousts Hugo Boss chairman

September 14, 2026

Frasers Group, the retail empire run by Mike Ashley, has overthrown the chairman of Hugo Boss as it seeks control of the German fashion house. The UK fashion group, which owns Sports Direct, Jack Wills and Flannels, told investors on Monday that Stephan Sturm, chairman of Hugo Boss’ supervisory board, has agreed to step aside. [...]
How Fevertree is taking on tap water to woo Gen-Z

September 13, 2026

The world’s biggest ginger beer producer is waging war on tap water. Fevertree, best known for its premium tonics, is urging customers to see its products as standalone soft drinks, rather than as mixers for the harder stuff. “Tap water is not a very appealing, aspirational alternative” to alcohol, says the drinks maker’s chief executive, [...]
Wetherspoon boss: ‘Not up to Burnham’ to choose who is on the high street

September 11, 2026

Britain’s pubs have few more committed defenders than Sir Tim Martin. The Norwich-born businessman founded JD Wetherspoon in 1979 when he bought his first pub in Muswell Hill, initially named Martin’s Free House. Since rebranding the pub to Wetherspoon – named after a former teacher of Martin’s who could not control his class – it [...]
Four interest rate hikes loom despite surprise economic growth

September 11, 2026

The Bank of England is expected to hike interest rates as many as four times within the next year, City figures have said, after the economy delivered surprise growth in July. The central bank is expected to be buoyed by this morning’s GDP figures, which saw the UK economy grow by 0.4 per cent in [...]
Stamp duty reform is ‘urgent,’ Berkeley tells Burnham

September 11, 2026

Berkeley has urged Andy Burnham to commit to “urgent reform” to stamp duty, which it says has become a “binding constraint” on housebuilders and buyers. The FTSE 250 firm said that stamp duty is to blame for the slump in demand for new homes, because it makes first-time-buying unaffordable and dissuades existing homeowners from moving [...]
Trainline hits out at tube strikes and fare freeze as growth stalls

September 11, 2026

Trainline has hit out at tube strikes and the government’s freeze on rail fares, as the train ticketing platform saw sales growth grind to a halt. The FTSE 250 firm posted flat ticket sales in the six months to August, at £2.1bn, blaming “the impact of the regulated fare freeze, additional disruptions from hot weather [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 rallies as economy beats forecasts; oil falls back

September 11, 2026

Welcome back to City AM’s FTSE 100 liveblog. The UK’s blue-chip index rallied on Friday after the economy beat forecasts in July, surprising those in the City who had expected to see growth peter out. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the UK economy’s (GDP) grew by 0.4 per cent in July, [...]
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin attacks government’s ‘unfriendly’ attitude to business

September 11, 2026

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said he is “very concerned” by the wealth exodus gripping the UK as he hit out at Labour’s “unfriendly” attitude towards entrepreneurs. The pub tycoon said it is “madness” to blame the number of ultra-rich businesspeople leaving the country on anything other than the business conditions created by the government. [...]
City policymakers push to end ‘old-school’ ban on tower logos

September 10, 2026

Square Mile policymakers are ramping up pressure on the City to drop “old-school” rules which block firms from displaying logos on their buildings, in a move which they say could drive growth. The City of London Corporation, which governs the historic financial district, has long blocked companies from displaying their logos on the top of [...]
The aristocratic landowner taking record rent from ‘cradle-to-grave’ health empire

September 10, 2026

One of London’s biggest landowning families raked in record rent from its Marylebone property empire last year, helped by a surge in demand at its ‘cradle-to-grave’ private healthcare district. Howard de Walden Estates, which owns the Harley Street health district and the residential Marylebone Village, grew its rental income from the estate by 9.3 per [...]

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By: Felix Armstrong

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