Close Brothers looks to ‘accelerate’ after ‘messy’ year October 1, 2025 Close Brothers is hoping to switch gears and “accelerate” after the motor finance scandal had the bank stuck in a rut. The specialist lender’s share price has swerved between a low of 185.00 and peak of 555.00 over the last 12 months. The car misselling saga has been the driving force of stock woes, sending [...]
Why Big Tech’s rap sheet matters more than its product pipeline October 1, 2025 Big Tech has shifted from a focus on genuine innovation to a model of value extraction, where massive fines for manipulative and monopolistic practices are now treated as a routine cost of doing business, says Paul Armstrong Amazon’s $2.5bn fine for dark patterns and Google’s courtroom escape from monopoly charges reveal how much the industry [...]
Business confidence ‘plumbs new depths’ ahead of Budget October 1, 2025 Business confidence fell to a fresh record low in September, as fears of another cost squeeze stoked an already dire operating environment that was found to have “worsened across the board”. According to an Institute of Directors (IoD) poll, private sector optimism plunged to the lowest level since the industry body started collecting data a [...]
Bank of England’s Breeden says inflation ‘hump’ is transitory September 30, 2025 The Bank of England’s deputy governor has warned keeping interest rates too high could drag inflation below the Bank’s two per cent target in comments that further exposed the divergence that exists among central bank officials over the long-term path of inflation. In a dovish speech delivered at Cardiff Business School, financial stability deputy chief [...]
Reeves to scrap two-child benefit cap September 30, 2025 Rachel Reeves is poised to abolish the two-child benefit cap at next month’s Budget, in a move that will be cheered by anti-poverty campaigners but is likely to stoke bond market fears that the government is unable to reign in runaway spending and borrowing. The Chancellor is said to be exploring a new tapered system [...]
Bentley and Golf to drive straight past some Top rivals September 30, 2025 YOU CAN guarantee when trainer Chris So arrives at Sha Tin on Wednesday, he will be dressed in his lucky tie and socks, plus anything else he believes brings him good fortune. It is a big day for the So stable, with stable star HONG LOK GOLF stepping out on to the turf for the [...]
Why abolishing the share tax must be included in the Autumn Budget September 30, 2025 As the UK approaches another budget this Autumn, the country is still leaving significant growth capital off the table, maintaining the lowest retail investor engagement rate in the G7. From 1963 to 2022, retail participation plummeted from 54 per cent to 10.8 per cent and the proportion of UK households directly owning stocks has halved [...]
Athletics rocked as Laura Muir’s former coach banned for serious misconduct September 30, 2025 UK Athletics has pledged further “significant culture change” after Laura Muir’s former coach Andrew Young was banned for three years for serious misconduct. Young was found guilty of nine counts of misconduct, seven of them serious, at both a disciplinary hearing last year and then an appeal earlier this summer. He was criticised for putting [...]
A Reform government will need good lawyers September 30, 2025 Zia Yusuf has said Reform will not let lawyers run the country, but if they want to be as radical as they claim, they will need very good legal advice to prevent challenges in the courts, says Andrew Lomas Last week, Nigel Farage outlined a series of changes that a Reform Government would make to [...]
Business sentiment sours as firms brace for tax hikes September 30, 2025 Business sentiment slumped in September as firms were braced for a fresh round of tax hikes in the autumn Budget. Private sector confidence slipped from 54 per cent to 42 per cent, according to the Lloyds Business Barometer survey, data which is typically seen as more cheery than rival surveys. Economic optimism edged down for [...]