Morrisons boosts sales amid looming ‘trolley wars’ June 19, 2025 Supermarket giant Morrisons has posted an increase in sales as it works to offload debt and compete in an ever-tougher sector. Like-for-like sales rose 3.9 per cent in the second quarter of the year, while total sales grew 4.2 per cent to £3.9bn. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 7.2 per [...]
Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Surge: NHC Takes the Lead June 19, 2025 Mr. Mohammed Albuty, CEO of the National Housing Company (NHC), affirmed that Saudi Arabia is undergoing a significant transformation in the real estate sector, driven by the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. He emphasised that NHC is at the forefront of this transformation as the region’s largest real estate developer and the executive arm of [...]
A week in the life of 1 Lombard Street June 19, 2025 Soren Jessen of Square Mile institution 1 Lombard Street on seven days in the City… MondayDawn, and boxes of fresh fish on ice are arriving from Dorset. Chef checks the gills and the eyes for freshness and decides on the Fish of the Day for the menu. More boxes arrive packed with gloriously colourful vegetables [...]
Vodafone picks Microsoft exec for £2m finance chief role June 19, 2025 Microsoft exec Pilar López is to join Vodafone as its new chief financial officer, the telco giant said on Thursday. López replaces Luka Mucic, the company’s shortest-serving CFO, who is leaving in November for a position as chief executive of the real estate developer Vonovia. She held several positions at Microsoft including as its Western [...]
Hays: Shares tank after recruiter issues latest profit warning June 19, 2025 Hays has downgraded its annual profit guidance and issued a bleak forecast for the UK’s recruitment market. The London-listed group said it expected pre-exceptional operating profits of around £45m in 2025, well below analyst consensus of £56.4m. Shares tumbled more than 13 per cent in early deals. Firms have been grappling with increases to national [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread sees UK sales falter amid shake-up of pub business June 19, 2025 Hospitality giant Whitbread has reported a downturn in UK sales amid a “challenging market backdrop” and a restructure of its pub and restaurant business. The Premier Inn-owner told markets this morning that overall sales in the UK fell five per cent in the first quarter of the financial year, driven by a 16 per cent [...]
Number of UK homes worth more than a million has doubled since 2019 June 19, 2025 The number of homes in the UK priced at £1m or above has doubled since the start of the pandemic as the housing market continues its upward march. Just over five per cent of homes for sale across the UK are now priced at over a million pounds, versus just under three per cent in [...]
Young Brits drive consumer confidence up while high-income households cut back June 19, 2025 A confidence boost amongst Gen Z Brits drove an improvement in consumer confidence in June while wealthier households held back, according to new data. Overall confidence about the state of the UK’s economy improved to -38 in June, up from -36 in May, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Brits’ confidence about their personal [...]
Sales of London mansions falter amid low confidence and non-dom exodus June 19, 2025 The average price of London mansions fell further in May as buyers stayed away from the market amid a downturn in confidence. Average prices fell by 3.2 per cent year on year, according to data from Lonres, while transactions fell 35.8 per cent year on year. Transactions for homes over £5m fell 14.7 per cent [...]
HS2: Can it be pulled back from the brink? June 18, 2025 For anyone who has followed the debacle surrounding HS2, the transport secretary’s scathing verdict on Wednesday will come as no surprise. The “appalling mess” of HS2, as Heidi Alexander put it, means there is “no route” to delivering the scheme on time and on budget. Shock. HS2’s costs were already known to have exceeded more [...]
