By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Deutsche Bank bets £250m on UK fintech Abound

March 27, 2025

Deutsche Bank announced on Thursday morning it had given a £250m backing to UK fintech Abound, boosting the firm’s lending capacity. The latest round of funding compounds existing support from Citi, Waterfall Asset Management and LuminArx – and takes the fintech’s total credit ceiling to £1.6bn. Abound said the additional capital would provide “firepower to [...]
Arbuthnot shares dip as falling interest rates weigh on profit

March 27, 2025

Arbuthnot Banking Group faced the sting of easing interest rates in its annual results report as profit at the historic lender tumbled. The AIM-listed bank recorded £35.1m in profit before tax in its full-year results, a drop of over £10m from the £47.1m booked in 2023. Shares at the lender were down as much as [...]
Shawbrook Bank reports profit slump despite loan book growth

March 27, 2025

Shawbrook Bank announced a boost to its deposit and loan book in its annual results, driven by commercial and retail markets. The bank’s loan book grew 16 per cent to £15.2bn in 2024, compared to the £13.3bn recorded in 2023. Despite this, profit before tax dipped to £294m, a minor drop from the £302m booked [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Businesses cautious on growth, expect further tax hikes

March 26, 2025

Rachel Reeves may have ended her Spring Statement upbeat on long-term prospects after an upgrade from the Office of Budget Responsibility, but businesses don’t seem to be buying it. The Chancellor announced that the OBR had upgraded growth forecasts for the coming years, as she brushed aside the 2025 outlook which was slashed in half. [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Markets ‘shrug off’ speech as gilt sales revised lower

March 26, 2025

The Debt Management Office (DMO) said it was planning £299bn of gilt sales in 2025 to 2026, slightly below the £302bn initially expected despite the government’s borrowing plans. However, this still marked the most extensive package since the pandemic. The DMO said it would issue the smallest selection of long-maturity gilts in its 27-year history [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Markets and bonds tread water ahead of ‘testing day’

March 26, 2025

Markets and bonds were relatively flat on Wednesday morning as analysts predicted Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement would mark a “testing day”. The FTSE 100 had minor gains following market open, with Marks and Spencer leading the index’s biggest risers. The mid-cap FTSE 250 had a slight uptick, led by a surge in retailer Ocado after [...]
Reeves urged to drive financial literacy in Spring Statement

March 25, 2025

In what will be a busy week for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves has been urged to not forget the importance of improving financial literacy in her Spring Statement. Jordan Sinclair, the president of financial services firm Robinhood UK, told City AM the UK has “the ingredients in order to improve” but now was the time [...]
City regulator faces grilling on Treasury’s growth agenda

March 25, 2025

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was grilled by the Treasury Committee on Tuesday after it unveiled its new five-year strategy. Members of the committee questioned the gap between the government’s growth agenda and how the FCA was prepared to deregulate. Chair of the Treasury Committee Dame Meg Hillier, said the regulator’s structure led to it [...]
Small businesses to offload Reeves’ tax hikes onto customers

March 25, 2025

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have taken steps to combat the Chancellor’s tax hikes as they brace for further changes in Reeves’ Spring Statement. Fresh research from Grant Thornton showed 71 per cent of SMEs have formed plans to offload rising employment costs onto consumers – a 15 per cent increase from December. Almost seven [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund slammed for ‘completely misleading’ rebrand

March 25, 2025

The government has been accused of “gaslighting the British public” over its National Wealth Fund as the Treasury committee announced on Monday it had launched an inquiry into the new body. Originally a fixture of Labour’s 2024 manifesto – the National Wealth Fund was to consolidate the British Business Bank and the UK Infrastructure Bank, [...]

The UK is an a “toxic relationship” with the government says Badenoch

Back of the Netflix: Sports content is fuelling wave of ad-funded streaming

Barbican Centre: the brutalist landmark weaving art into everyday London life.

By: Samuel Norman

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