B&M: FTSE 250 shares plunge as profit and job cuts revealed June 4, 2025 Shares in B&M have plunged by more than ten per cent after the retailer revealed a lower profit, rising debt and job cuts. The Liverpool-headquartered company, which is a member of the FTSE 250 index, reported a pre-tax profit of £431m for the 12 months to 29 March, 2025, down from the £498m it achieved [...]
WH Smith nears sale of high street chain as revenue rises June 4, 2025 WH Smith has confirmed it remains on track to sell its high street division to the owner of Hobbycraft by the end of the month. In March, the FTSE 250 company announced it had agreed to offload the arm to private equity firm Modella in a deal which valued it at £76m. When complete, the [...]
Why the UK investment system needs a complete overhaul June 4, 2025 Nick Saunders, CEO of Webull UK, an online investment platform, says the UK must completely overhaul its investment system if it wants to drive growth. Like a rickety Edwardian chair with a broken leg, the retail investment infrastructure in the UK is so badly damaged that not even the most optimistic Bargain Hunt contestant would [...]
B&M: Revenue ticks up as new stores outperform June 4, 2025 Discount retailer B&M has reported a bump in its full-year earnings after progress in France and a better-than-anticipated performance at its new stores. The London-listed Luxembourg-headquartered company reported revenue of £5.57bn in the 52 weeks ended March 29, up 3.7 per cent year on year. It said the higher revenue was “primarily driven” by the contribution [...]
Private equity: Are the doors to the most exclusive club in town finally opening? June 4, 2025 Private equity has carved out a record as one of the best-performing assetclasses of the last 25 years – for the exclusive benefit of a privileged few. Now, at last,private investors can get in. Trillions of dollars have flowed into private equity in the past twenty-odd years. Global private capital assets under management reportedly more [...]
Hospitality ranks bottom for UK wages as sector struggles with costs June 3, 2025 Hospitality workers are now the worst-paid employees in the UK as the sector continues to struggle with high costs. A combination of high energy prices, high wholesale prices and high taxes have squeezed margins in the last two years, making it hard for a sector pummelled by the pandemic to recover. Accommodation and food service [...]
JP Morgan launches risk-rated investment portfolios June 3, 2025 JP Morgan plans to scale up its UK investment offering after fresh research revealed a huge frustration among UK retail investors. The lender found nearly one in six UK investors were unsatisfied with the income they received from investments, despite two-thirds saying the income from investing was important. The firm is using its Asset Management [...]
Keep electric cars exempt from Congestion Charge, says Polestar boss June 3, 2025 Electric car users should not be forced to pay London’s congestion charge, even at a discount, the boss of Polestar has said. Transport for London (TfL) last week unveiled proposals to hike the Congestion Charge by a fifth last week, the first increase since 2029. The announcement was coupled with news that electric vehicle (EV) [...]
Monzo: The rockstar fintech setting the City abuzz June 3, 2025 Monzo has dominated City chatter in recent months with its hotly anticipated IPO, and now the fintech unicorn’s latest financial results indicate the talk is only going to get louder. The UK fintech veteran broke another milestone in the last 12 months after topping £1bn in annual revenue. Behind the surge in takings was a [...]
AI regulation needs to be smarter in the UK, urges Deepmind boss June 3, 2025 Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google Deepmind, has called on UK policymakers and business heavyweights to embrace the “smart regulation” of AI, warning that a failure to do so could prompt unintended harm, or the loss of public trust. He announced at London’s inaugural SXSW event on Monday: “AI is the most important technology humanity [...]