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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Legacy banks must ‘radically modernise’ or lose to fintech stars, says former Barclays boss

January 1, 2026

A decade ago, Antony Jenkins was ousted from his role as chief executive of Barclays and months later warned the banking sector was reaching an “Uber moment”. Jenkins declared technology would be an “unstoppable force” in the banking sector and could lead to hundreds of branch closures and potentially slash the industry’s workforce by half. [...]
The winners and losers of the FTSE 100’s record year

December 31, 2025

In what has been a record year for the FTSE 100, a number of London’s blue-chips missed out on the rally and were left in the dark. The FTSE 100 is poised to close 2025 just shy of the 10,000 mark after rising 20 per cent over the course of the year, led by strong [...]
Britain lost one pub a day in 2025

December 31, 2025

One pub a day closed its doors in 2025 as businesses were forced to battle mounting cost pressures and an increasingly heavy tax burden. Fresh analysis from global tax firm Ryan showed 366 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses in the last 12 months. Since 2020, nearly 2,000 pubs have closed for good, [...]
FTSE 100 ends record year with close just below 10,000

December 31, 2025

The FTSE 100 closed just below the record 10,000 in the final trading session of the year on Wednesday after a last-minute surge fizzled out. After a record-breaking 41 new all-time highs this year, the index ended 2025 up 20.2 per cent at 9,931. At the beginning of trading, it looked as if the index [...]
Britain stuck at bottom of G7 for total investment as Labour’s policies backfire

December 31, 2025

Rachel Reeves has come under fire after fresh data revealed Britain was stuck in last place among the world’s seven largest economies for total investment. Public and private investment marked just 18.6 per cent of GDP in the three months to September, placing the UK last among the G7 nations. Whilst it is a trend [...]
London Stock Exchange needs more ‘hustle’ to attract IPOs, says Octopus chief

December 31, 2025

The boss of Octopus Energy Group has said the London Stock Exchange needs to show more “hustle” to attract new listing candidates like the group’s tech arm, Kraken. Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus, said whilst he would “love” for Kraken to list in the City, but added the London Stock Exchange (LSE) needs to [...]
Majority of Brits think economy is getting worse

December 30, 2025

A majority of Brits think the economy is getting worse, with sentiment souring significantly amid rising prices and weak growth. Nearly six in ten Brits believe the UK economy is on a downward spiral, a major jump from 43 per cent at the beginning of the year, marking a significant blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves [...]
Greg Jackson spins off Octopus’ tech arm Kraken after $1bn injection

December 30, 2025

Octopus Energy Group has spun off its technology arm, Kraken, following its first standalone investment round. The fresh funding round for Kraken was led by global investment giant D1 Capital Partners, with new investors including Fidelity International, Durable Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. Kraken – which is an AI-powered platform now contracted [...]
UK consumers cut spending amid wider economic nerves

December 30, 2025

UK consumers’ debit and credit card spending slumped in 2025 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic as wider economic nerves knocked confidence. Card spending fell 0.2 per cent in the last 12 months, according to Barclays, a sharp contrast to the 1.6 per cent growth recorded in 2024. Just a quarter of British [...]
Financial services to plough cash into UK defence in 2026

December 29, 2025

Financial services are planning to pump cash into the UK’s defence sector next year after facing pressure to ramp up investment amid increased geopolitical tensions. Nearly two-thirds of financial services leaders expect the sector to increase investment in UK defence in 2026, with more than a quarter anticipating that investment will rise “much more” over [...]

City searching for signals as Bank of England set to hike interest rates

Ice Hockey World Championships sponsor threatens to pull out over Russia

Andy Burnham says stockpile beans and tuna: Here’s the wine to pair with that

By: Samuel Norman

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