Davos: Reeves defends fiscal rules and says Heathrow expansion is ‘pro-growth’ January 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves has insisted the UK would continue to meet her “fiscal rules”, describing them as the “bedrock” of the stability she aims to restore to the economy and public finances. The Chancellor spoke at a Bloomberg event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector [...]
Trainline shares fall as national ticketing service unveiled January 22, 2025 Trainline shares dipped this morning after ministers unveiled plans to introduce a national rail ticket website as part of wide-reaching reforms The stock fell more than five per cent in early trading as investors reacted to the news. Great British Railways (GBR), the arms-length body that will oversee the UK’s reformed railway system, will bring [...]
Blackrock trusts agree peace deal with Saba Capital January 22, 2025 A host of Blackrock-run investment trusts have made a peace deal with US hedge fund Saba Capital, amid its activist campaign to take over the boards of several UK trusts. In a series of stock exchange announcements, the Blackrock trusts said that they had made an agreement with Saba to be left alone by the [...]
Trump launches $500bn AI investment round with big tech bosses January 22, 2025 Donald Trump announced a “monumental” round of investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, backed by some of the biggest tech firms in the US. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, appeared with President Trump in the White House yesterday to unveil the Stargate Project. The company will start with an initial $100bn investment round to [...]
Easyjet reaffirms guidance as losses narrow significantly January 22, 2025 Easyjet has reaffirmed full-year profit guidance after quarterly losses more than halved and booking momentum continued to build ahead of the busier easter and summer months. The budget airline expects to report a headline pre-tax profit of £709m in 2025, up from a prior year haul of £610m and in line with consensus. It said [...]
Quilter share price rises amid cash inflow spike January 22, 2025 Quilter saw a sharp increase in the amount of cash flowing into its coffers over the last year, as the wealth manager reported its assets under management shot up to £119.4bn. In a trading update, the FTSE 250 firm reported £1.8bn in new business over the last quarter, bringing its take-in for 2024 as a [...]
UK economy: Borrowing overshoots expectations as interest bill spikes January 22, 2025 The figures come shortly after a bout of instability in the gilt market.
British wine industry calls on Eurostar to bring back Kent services January 22, 2025 Britain’s wine industry has called for Eurostar to restart services from two Kent stations to boost the South East of England’s vineyards. The high-speed operator suspended operations from Ashford International and Ebbsfleet in the early stages of the pandemic. But it has faced mounting pressure to bring back the popular routes over the last year [...]
HMRC ‘degrading’ services and ‘eroding’ confidence, MPs warn January 22, 2025 The UK’s tax authority is “degrading its own services as a matter of policy” and damaging the public’s confidence, a report by MPs into HMRC has warned. Growing concerns have been raised about HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) delivering poor customer service, which MPs claim is intentional, failing to pursue debts and reducing its prosecutions. [...]
More good news for pubs as December splurge delivers crucial growth January 22, 2025 A rush of pubgoers in the last two weeks of December brought much-needed growth across the industry in a “big relief” for businesses. Pub sales were up 4.7 per cent ahead of December 2023, while bars bounced back from soft trading throughout most of 2024 to post growth of 1.3 per cent, according to the [...]
