Autumn Budget 2026: ‘Steady as she goes’ is no good when the economy’s adrift Opinion John Healey avoided several icebergs but there are nasty storms on the horizon, says William Nixon The Chancellor opened his speech by claiming the Budget would help “steer” the UK’s economy through “global economic storms”. He can be commended for avoiding the twin icebergs of major new tax hikes and pre-Budget speculation that sank Rachel [...]
Healey warned ‘the dam is breaking’ on shop price inflation Retail The Chancellor has been warned that the “dam is starting to break” on surging shop price inflation, which retailers had kept at bay with heavy discounting. Shop prices rose by 2.1 per cent in the year to October, according to new data from the British Retail Consortium, ahead of September’s 1.4 per cent and the [...]
Retail sales fall faster than expected ahead of Budget Retail Retail sales fell at a faster pace than expected in September, new figures have shown, as consumer confidence suffered a major drop ahead of the Budget. Total sales at retailers fell 0.4 per cent in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a bigger drop than the 0.1 per cent forecast by City [...]
Budget 2026: Sainsbury’s boss urges Labour to tackle Neets crisis October 22, 2026 The boss of Sainsbury’s has urged the government to tackle the UK’s youth unemployment crisis, as he hit out at previous hikes to the cost of hiring workers. Simon Roberts, chief executive of the UK’s second-largest grocer, said John Healey must “focus on doing the right thing for young people” at next week’s Budget. In [...]
Sainsbury’s shares slide as ‘tough’ conditions slow growth October 22, 2026 Shares in Sainsbury’s tumbled after the supermarket giant posted slowing sales growth and warned that shoppers are facing “tough” cost-of-living pressures. The UK’s second-largest supermarket saw its stock slide by nearly four per cent in early trading to 346p. This came despite the firm lifting the lower end of its full-year profit target from £965m [...]
Budget 2026: Consumer confidence tumbles as Healey urged to slow ‘tsunami of costs’ October 22, 2026 John Healey has been urged to tackle the “tsunami of costs” facing firms as consumer confidence tumbled ahead of the crucial Budget next week. Brits’ confidence in the state of the economy worsened from -32 to -40 in October, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)’s index, marking the third consecutive month of deteriorating sentiment. [...]
Inflation leaps above expectations to 3.5 per cent October 21, 2026 Inflation jumped to 3.5 per cent in the 12 months to September as the UK economy looks set to suffer the damaging effects of energy price increases caused by the Iran war over the coming months. The consumer price index (CPI) reading rose above market expectations. This was also above last month’s figure of 3.1 [...]
August Breaks UK Credit Card Record as Balances Soar October 20, 2026 FICO UK Credit Card Market Report suggests risk teams must closely monitor payment rates and overlimit usage as rising inflation adds to financial pressure for consumers
Sainsbury’s hopes to regain narrative after Morrisons merger bombshell October 20, 2026 Sainsbury’s is set to update the market on its latest numbers this week. But the City has one thing in mind: merger talks with Morrisons, writes Felix Armstrong As Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts gears up to face the market later this week, business hacks will be getting used to the usual riposte: no comment. The [...]
Midday Markets: The UK economy is a juxtapo-Britain October 13, 2026 The Midday Market report is a new newsletter from City AM, giving you fresh analysis on the biggest stories in the City straight into your inbox every lunchtime. Today, Ali Lyon weighs up what Tuesday’s IMF report says about the state of the UK economy. Sign up to the City AM News Updates newsletter here. [...]