Starmer promised to ‘rewire the state’ so why is the civil service bigger? January 6, 2026 Civil service headcount has reached a 20-year high, bigger than it was during Brexit or Covid. Yet more proof that this Prime Minister’s only belief is in bigger government, says Eliot Wilson When Sir Keir Starmer appointed a new cabinet secretary and head of the civil service at the end of 2024, he made a [...]
London’s future will be determined by choices, not rhetoric January 5, 2026 2026 will be the year the City moves from post-Brexit design to delivery, says Chris Hayward As the new year begins, London’s position as a leading global financial centre is often framed in binary terms: rise or decline. That is no bad thing. Competition sharpens performance, and financial centres that assume their leading position rarely [...]
Property slump hits half of London as prime boroughs lead the decline December 23, 2025 London has a “two-speed” market, as house prices are falling in about half of London’s boroughs, with the most expensive boroughs hit the hardest. The average house price in London for October was £547,000, down 2.4 per cent from the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data also showed that [...]
Know your OBR from your CPS? Take City AM’s politics quiz of 2025 December 20, 2025 Welcome to City AM‘s politics quiz of 2025, a year where Keir Starmer said his best moment in office was walking into Downing Street, Kemi Badenoch got Northern Ireland’s voting record on Brexit wrong and Nigel Farage admitted he did not own property in his constituency. There have been many other errors, blunders and mishaps [...]
Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025 December 18, 2025 THE MENA REGION’s PREMIER FINANCIAL EVENT Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) is the MENA region’s premier financial event, bringing together global leaders, market experts, policymakers, and investors from 175 countries to drive impactful dialogue and collaboration. Over the four thematic days, ADFW 2025 delivered a milestone gathering of global finance’s most influential voices across five [...]
‘If we’re serious about growth this is the lever to pull’, says Treasury adviser December 17, 2025 UK founders are launching businesses faster than ever, yet many still feel undervalued, underfunded, and overlooked. The 2025 UK StartUp Report showed that only 29 per cent of founders believe entrepreneurship is seen as a desirable career while just 27 per cent feel successful founders are celebrated. And, perhaps worst of all, only around a [...]
US puts UK tech deal on ice after Budget digital tax move December 16, 2025 Washington has paused the flagship US-UK tech pact just weeks after Rachel Reeves doubled down on Britain’s digital services tax in her Autumn Budget, sharpening fears that the levy has become a pressure point in wider trade talks with Trump’s administration. The so-called Tech Prosperity Deal, unveiled during Trump’s state visit back in September and [...]
The secret to Reform’s rise? They don’t put their out of offices on December 16, 2025 Reform used the summer holiday vacuum to further their cause, and it's made all the difference, writes Michael Martins in today's Notebook.
‘Picking winners? This is about backing champions’ – Reform’s Zia Yusuf on a radical approach to business December 16, 2025 Reform has by any measure enjoyed an incredible 2025. But for much of the poll-topping year, its economic vision has remained an unknown entity. Ali Lyon met policy chief Zia Yusuf to hear, for the first time, his party’s plans for Britain’s flatlining economy and the millions of businesses in it. Zia Yusuf is feeling [...]
Sumer Group, champions of SMEs, leading the way towards economic growth December 12, 2025 They tackled Brexit head-on, survived Covid, coped with the impact of the war in Ukraine and battled rising costs. The latest growth forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility presents a further challenge with the OBR reducing their expectations for productivity growth by 0.3ppts to 1 per cent. In times of uncertainty these businesses have [...]