Petrol retailers vindicated after Reeves ‘profiteering’ claims May 1, 2026 Petrol retailers have been vindicated of “price gouging”, pouring cold water on the government’s accusations of profiteering from the war in Iran. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that higher fuel prices in the UK were caused by the rising cost of oil, rather than by retailers expanding their margins to profit from the [...]
My Alps adventure holiday with endless high-octane thrills May 1, 2026 Simon Miller on an Alps adventure holiday stuffed with high-octane adventuring I’m never going to argue that a good book and a sun lounger isn’t a winning summer holiday formula, but go on enough of those trips and the novelty starts to wane. Seen one swim up bar, you’ve seen them all. I wanted to [...]
MJ Gleeson warns building cost inflation prompting ‘high caution’ May 1, 2026 Housebuilder MJ Gleeson has sounded the alarm over building cost inflation, prompting “higher than usual caution” over its finances. The London-listed firm said on Friday: “We have recently seen some softening in footfall and reservations, and limited increases in the cost of some materials.” The effective blockade to the Strait of Hormuz caused by the [...]
House prices rise in April as market proves ‘remarkable resilience’ May 1, 2026 House prices made a surprise jump in April, as the “remarkable resilience” of the UK’s housing market trumped the hit to consumer confidence caused by the Iran war. Annual house price growth in the UK climbed to three per cent last month, up from 2.2 per cent in March. National house prices grew by 0.4 [...]
Natwest shares slip as bank upgrades income on higher interest rates May 1, 2026 Natwest breezed past profit expectations in the first quarter of the 2026 and is predicting a greater bump to its bottom line on the back of higher-than-expected interest rates. The FTSE 100 giant booked a £2bn pre-tax profit in the first three months of the year, up from £1.8bn in the same period last year [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop amid US-Iran war mixed messaging; House prices up May 1, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are scrambling for some messaging this morning as tensions around the Iran war drag on. Donald Trump faced a deadline for today whether to formally end the war in Iran or make the case to the US Congress for extending it. But an official [...]
On this day: Tony Blair’s New Labour landslide May 1, 2026 A new dawn broke on this day in 1997, ushering in an era of Cool Britannia, writes Eliot Wilson Do you remember where you were on Thursday 1 May 1997? It was 20°C in London that afternoon: Michael Jackson headed the singles chart for the seventh time with “Blood on the Dance Floor”, while the [...]
Millennials are best placed to navigate the AI era May 1, 2026 As Lewis Liu turns 40, he reflects on how the generation that grew up before social media will navigate the ethical challenges of AI I’m writing this column on the steps of Widener Library at Harvard, exactly where I sat solving some physics problem set as a college kid two decades ago, currently en route [...]
Hiring freezes loom as business confidence remains near record low May 1, 2026 British business leaders are bracing for hiring freezes as headcount expectations dropped into negative territory again, according to new data from the Institute of Directors. The IoD’s economic confidence Index edged up to -64 in April from -76 in March, remaining close to historic lows. But headcount expectations slipped to minus three from zero in [...]
Bank of England signals interest rate hikes ahead despite April hold April 30, 2026 The Bank of England has all but confirmed that interest rates will be hiked in the coming months as oil prices have shot up, despite opting to hold them in a meeting on Thursday. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee warned interest rates could climb back to 5.25 per cent from the current level of 3.75 [...]