By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering all the top financial institutions from retail banks to fintechs as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He has broken stories on some of the biggest names in the City and regularly writes in-depth analysis pieces on companies and industry trends. Samuel also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He writes a weekly column found in print and online on Wednesdays. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Close Brothers drops brewery arm amid operations overhaul

July 15, 2025

Close Brothers is set to sell off its specialist service provider division for the beer industry as the banking group continues to overhaul operations. The FTSE 250 listed group established Close Brewery Rentals Limited (CBRL) in 2007, which provides keg and cask rental, leasing, and management services for breweries and beverage producers. The division offers [...]
Exclusive: Panmure Liberum to ‘reinvigorate’ City market with banking tie-up

July 15, 2025

Investment bank Panmure Liberum has joined forces with Nedbank in a push to expand their reach across equity capital markets and drive dual-listings across the UK and South Africa. London-headquartered Panmure will collaborate with Nedbank’s corporate and investment banking division to produce equity research across UK and South African markets. The deal aims to provide [...]
Rachel Reeves eyes boost for first-time buyers with mortgage reforms

July 15, 2025

Rachel Reeves will today unveil a fleet of reforms in a bid to boost home ownership as she plans to slash ‘financial red tape’. Speaking in Leeds ahead of her Mansion House address, the Chancellor will announce plans for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to increase high loan-to-income mortgages (over 4.5 times a buyer’s income) [...]
Natwest boss: No path to growth without financial services

July 14, 2025

The boss of banking juggernaut Natwest has issued a final plea to Rachel Reeves on the eve of her Mansion House speech, urging the Chancellor to fully unleash financial services’ growth potential. Paul Thwaite, Natwest’s chief executive, said there was “no path to growth without [financial services]” as he called for Reeves to make key [...]
Buy UK: City stocks set for boost from Trump’s trade war with EU

July 14, 2025

As the chaos around President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff agenda shows no sign of abating, brokers have thrown their weight behind UK stocks. Just this weekend, Trump threatened escalations with Mexico and the EU before slapping a 30 per cent levy on the 27-state bloc from August 1. But among the geopolitical noise, the UK [...]
Mortgage brokers on chopping block as AI overhaul gains pace

July 14, 2025

Mortgage brokers could be the latest roles to be swallowed up by the spread of AI as homebuyers deploy modern tech in the space of cumbersome traditional homebuying services. AI has taken a dominant role for buyers with over a third using the tech to explore their options. Early adopters cited AI as streamlining product [...]
Rachel Reeves urged to make ‘bold choices’ at Mansion House speech as growth stalls

July 14, 2025

Financial services are looking to Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House speech and the launch of her new growth strategy for the sector as a pivotal turning point. The industry has been courted by the Chancellor in hopes of feeding ideas into the Treasury’s inaugural Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. Now, firms look to be banking [...]
London hiring plunges as Rachel Reeves’ tax grab weighs

July 14, 2025

London hiring has suffered a steep drop as rising costs weigh on employers following Rachel Reeves’ tax grab. Permanent staff places in the capital – hires with no fixed end date – fell at the sharpest rate in 22 months in June. Meanwhile, temporary bills, which track the total income recruitment agencies earn from placing [...]
Bank of England interest rate cut ‘almost certain’ after poor growth

July 11, 2025

Fresh growth figures have fuelled speculation of an August interest rate cut in a bid to give the waning UK economy a shot of life. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Friday the UK economy shrunk for the second consecutive month with a 0.1 per cent contraction in May. Deutsche Bank’s chief economist [...]
Rachel Reeves risks ‘serious damage’ with tax hikes, OBR member warns

July 11, 2025

Fears of another Rachel Reeves’ tax raid are growing after fresh figures revealed the economy shrank in May, but a member of the OBR has warned the Chancellor against drastic measures, including tax hikes. The Chancellor is facing renewed pressure, with economists warning that the government’s £190bn spending splurge, sporadic U-turns, and poor growth figures are set [...]

Anthropic’s growth slows ahead of IPO as AI spending bill nears $900bn

Commonwealth Games generated £223m for Scotland

London Watch Week – The City Edition mega preview, featuring Christopher Ward, Nomos and more

By: Samuel Norman

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