CEOs say Reeves and Starmer are not doing enough – BGF boss November 18, 2025 Business leaders across the country feel the Labour government “certainly does not appear to be doing enough” to support them, the chief executive of investment giant BGF has said. Speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, Andy Gregory said a recent survey of BGF’s portfolio has revealed views from business leaders [...]
Banking watchdog raises customer protection to £120,000 November 18, 2025 The UK banking watchdog has raised the cap for how much a customer can be paid if their provider fails. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has hiked the limit to £120,000 from £85,000 meaning additional customer funds will be protected if their lender collapses. The limits come under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which [...]
Labour: what the hell is going on? November 17, 2025 Against a backdrop of catastrophic briefings and an upcoming Budget doom, contenders are vying to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership – but none of them have any idea how they would do things differently, says Eliot Wilson Last week was not a good one for the Prime Minister. With the latest opinion poll [...]
Businesses back themselves – but does their government? November 14, 2025 Three-quarters of SME leaders are confident about their own growth prospects heading into 2026, yet only 39 per cent trust the government to create conditions for that growth to happen, says Mike Hackett Here’s the paradox keeping Britain’s economy afloat: three-quarters of SME leaders are confident about their own growth prospects heading into 2026, yet [...]
Productivity growth twitchy in wake-up call for OBR and Reeves November 13, 2025 Productivity levels stuttered in the third quarter of the year, an initial estimate has shown, subverting the Chancellor’s hopes of boosting output in the UK economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday morning that quarterly growth in output per hour rates was 0.7 per cent, the highest level since the end of [...]
Skilled Labour: The Key To Unlocking £725bn UK Infrastructure Investment November 12, 2025 With Britain ready to commit £725 bn to infrastructure projects someone has to step up and be the hero to solve the crisis that is brewing. The labour market for construction is facing a serious dilemma: an ageing workforce, a shortfall of migrant skilled labour and multiple huge projects in the pipeline across the next [...]
FCA doubles down on AI testing over regulation November 12, 2025 The UK’s financial regulator has doubled down on its decision not to draft new AI-specific laws, insisting that the best way to manage the tech’s momentous rise is through testing and collaboration rather than rushing to legislate. Speaking at the City & Financial Global AI regulation summit, Charlotte Clark CBE, the Financial Conduct Authority’s director [...]
Britain can’t behave like Brussels and expect to trade like Wall Street November 11, 2025 The UK’s post-Brexit reform to anonymise short-selling disclosures is a positive step, but it will only succeed if it is accompanied by a fundamental shift from blunt regulation to market-led innovation in data analytics and technology-driven transparency, says Tim Focas Britain’s post-Brexit financial debate often concludes with a tired binary view that deregulation equals danger, [...]
Two thirds of Brits want tax-raising Reeves to resign November 11, 2025 The latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll will make difficult for the Chancellor, says Matthew Lesh Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves played with fire. In what was officially titled a “scene setter” speech ahead of the Budget, she tried to soften the ground for tax rises. After committing to not come back for more after last [...]
Reeves’ tax plans to push one in eight businesses overseas November 10, 2025 One in eight small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders in the UK are actively planning to relocate themselves, their businesses, or both, citing the current tax burden. This amounts to roughly 680,000 businesses out of the UK’s 5.67m SMEs, according to a new report by Rathbones. The findings come just weeks ahead of Rachel Reeves’ [...]