‘A tax burden without precedent in the 21st Century’: Pub chain McMullen’s blasts government tax hikes June 6, 2025 One of Britain’s biggest pub chains has taken aim at the government’s “damaging” tax hikes, warning they will lead to lower demand and investment and have forced the hospitality sector to “bear the brunt” of rises in government spending. Hertford-based McMullen’s, which operates around 120 pubs in London and the home counties, including the Old [...]
Will the Bank of England’s quantitative tightening torpedo Reeves’ fiscal rules? June 5, 2025 Rachel Reeves is in a pickle. At under £10bn, the Chancellor’s self-imposed fiscal headroom – the Treasury’s wiggle room within its fiscal rules – is already wafer-thin by historic standards. And it is under intense strain, given a recent slew of billion-pound government spending pledges such as reversing winter fuel payments cuts and scrapping the [...]
Exec behind Lloyds mass affluent push quits within days of launch June 4, 2025 A Lloyds exec behind the bank’s push to attract “mass affluent” customers has departed within days of the launch of its new service. Jo Harris, who has been with the FTSE 100 bank for more than a decade, would be leaving at the end of the month, according to an internal memo seen by the [...]
CAB Payments turns to New York to revive fortunes June 4, 2025 The London fintech behind the “worst IPO of the year” in 2023 is seeking to revive its fortunes with an expansion to New York after it secured a licence to operate in the US. CAB Payments told markets on Wednesday that it has received approvals from the Federal Reserve and The New York State Department [...]
Ninety One: Asset manager hopeful of ending years of outflows June 4, 2025 Ninety One was hopeful of ending years of fund outflows after the FTSE 250 firm recorded a positive second-half performance. The asset manager, which is based in London and Johannesburg, has recorded only a single year of net inflows since its 2020 flotation after clients pulled a combined £25bn from the firm. But on Wednesday, [...]
British Steel braces for fresh Trump tariff blow June 3, 2025 The British steel industry is gearing up for the hammer blow of fresh US tariffs after Downing Street could not confirm that steelmakers would be exempt from the levies. The UK government unveiled a trade deal with the US last month, under which metal exports would be exempted from punitive tariffs. But negotiations on the [...]
OECD: Rachel Reeves’ ‘insufficient’ fiscal headroom poses risk to UK economy June 3, 2025 The OECD has warned Rachel Reeves’ wafer thin fiscal headroom poses a significant risk to the UK economy as it cut its growth outlook for Britain in 2025 and 2026. The economic organisation urged the Treasury to “step up” efforts to bolster its “very thin” fiscal headroom, expressing concern that it could cause “significant downside [...]
Blow to Thames Water as KKR pulls out of equity raise June 3, 2025 Thames Water’s battle to escape nationalisation has suffered a hammer blow after KKR withdrew its bid to acquire an equity stake in the business. The US private equity giant had been selected as a preferred partner for the debt-laden utility business as part of its efforts to raise funds, with KKR having “prepared detailed plans, [...]
Pound edges closer to multi-year high against dollar amid erratic US tax policy June 2, 2025 The pound has edged closer to a multi-year high against the dollar as investors doubled down on predictions that the greenback would continue to weaken into the second half of the year. Sterling was up around 0.6 per cent against the dollar by Monday evening to $1.3523, a rise of more than 8 per cent [...]
Valterra Platinum: Shares rise on London debut after Anglo American demerger June 2, 2025 Shares in Valterra Platinum rose on Monday in a positive start to the mining company’s London debut following its $11bn demerger from Anglo American. The secondary London listing, in which shares nudged up 1.8 per cent at the end of the first day’s trading, follows an earlier primary listing in Johannesburg. Valterra’s London-listed shares have [...]
