Bonus season and the illusion of wealth February 11, 2026 As bonus season begins across the City, many higher earners continue to struggle to manage the difference between headline pay and usable cash Headline pay figures for City bonuses always grab attention and this year the expectation is cash bonuses will not disappoint. For many city professionals this is the moment to build liquidity, buy [...]
Exclusive: Prem Rugby kicks plan to hike stadiums to 15,000 into touch February 11, 2026 Prem Rugby has torpedoed proposals for a top-flight shake-up that would have seen champions Bath Rugby’s stadium deemed too small for the top flight, City AM can reveal. A study, run by Deloitte, looking at how Prem Rugby can raise the minimum standards of entry to the English top flight raised the prospect of increasing [...]
Services sector rebound expected to help economy limp towards growth February 10, 2026 Rachel Reeves is set to breathe a minor sigh of relief at the sight of new economic data this week with the UK economy expected to have limped towards growth in December. A survey of City economists by Bloomberg had projected a 0.1 per cent expansion in December and 0.2 per cent for the fourth-quarter. [...]
Barclays boss calls for political ‘stability’ as banker’s pay packet swells to £15m February 10, 2026 The boss of British banking giant Barclays has called for “stability” across the political landscape as the Labour government’s future faces uncertainty. CS Venkatakrishnan, the bank’s chief executive who is known as Venkat, faced questions on the turmoil in Number 10 after Barclays published its full-year earnings report. “From the point of view of businesses [...]
UK businesses turn to overseas talent and AI as Reeves’ taxes bite February 9, 2026 British businesses are facing a “trade off” as rising costs for employers push firms into investing in overseas talent and leveraging AI. Whilst businesses are ditching the “wait-and-see” approach that engulfed firms amidst the tax uncertainty ahead of November’s Budget, this has not translated into a hiring upswing, the latest KPMG and REC jobs report [...]
UK labour market weakens as hiring and pay growth cools February 8, 2026 The UK labour market continued to lose momentum at the start of 2026, with falling employment, weak hiring demand and easing wage growth reinforcing signs of a sustained slowdown. BDO’s Employment Index fell for a third consecutive month in January to 93.30, its lowest level since March 2011, as businesses pulled back on recruitment amid persistent cost [...]
Is Japan about to have a Liz Truss moment? February 6, 2026 Japan’s upcoming election could trigger a global economic crisis similar to the UK’s “Liz Truss moment” due to the country’s high debt, plans for fiscal expansion by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and the potential for a bond selloff, says David Stritch The Japanese election this Sunday may seem remote to British observers – especially with [...]
Time to take a Milei-style chainsaw to the nanny state February 6, 2026 Ask any business what is the biggest barrier to growth and time and again they will tell you it’s regulation, says Jamila Robertson In a recent talk at the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), the former Bank of England Governor, Lord King, reflected that the Bank of England staff had risen from 2,000 to 5,000 [...]
Starmer future speculation sparks sell-off in long-dated bonds and pound February 5, 2026 Speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed a fresh round of market unease, with investors dumping the pound, UK equities and long-dated government bonds amid the political uncertainty. The gulf in price between the UK’s short- and long-term debt – known as the yield curve – reached its highest since 2018, in a sign investors [...]
Bank of England raises alarm on unemployment as interest rates unchanged February 5, 2026 The Bank of England has held interest rates but policymakers warned that the spiralling unemployment rate and weak growth was weighing down on price growth. In its decision on Thursday, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to leave interest rates at 3.75 per cent. But economists warned that unemployment could jump higher over the [...]