Boost for Rachel Reeves as UK economy booms in first quarter May 15, 2025 The UK economy surged by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, official data has shown, suggesting firms boosted production ahead of Rachel Reeves’s tax rises in April and the threat of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Fresh data provided by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy grew [...]
United Utilities: Profit rises significantly as water bills hiked May 15, 2025 Profit at United Utilities jumped significantly ahead of the FTSE 100 giant hiking water bills for its more than seven million customers, it has been revealed. The Warrington-headquartered firm, which serves customers in the North West of England, has also proposed an increase to its final dividend of 4.2 per cent to 34.6p. The company [...]
London Cypriots to get visit from President in ‘brain gain’ push May 15, 2025 The President of Cyprus will visit Cypriot citizens based in London next week offering them generous tax incentives to return home. The relocation push – dubbed the ‘Brain Gain’ – is backed up with pledges of help with education, housing and free healthcare to lure skilled workers among Britain’s 300,000-strong diaspora back to their home [...]
National Grid profit jumps by a fifth despite record investment May 15, 2025 National Grid’s annual profits rose by a fifth as it lauded stable growth against a backdrop of “international economic uncertainty.” On an underlying basis, pre-tax profit increased 20 per cent to £3.7bn over the 12 months ended 31 March. Earnings per share rose two per cent to 73.3p, ahead of previous guidance. National Grid announced [...]
India-Pakistan, England cricket chiefs and sport’s moral compass May 15, 2025 The ECB will be grateful that it has not yet had cause to reach for its moral compass in the India-Pakistan conflict, writes Ed Warner. I was in Paris at the 2022 Wheelchair Rugby Euros when Russia invaded Ukraine. The very next day’s results show Russia beating Poland 1-0. This in a sport in which [...]
China could gatecrash Starmer’s diplomatic party May 15, 2025 Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that the UK doesn’t need to choose between strengthening economic and trade ties with the US and deepening them with the EU. A few weeks ago, concern was growing in Whitehall that if the UK didn’t strike a deal with America then the chance of a tariff rapprochement could be [...]
Sadiq Khan’s green belt U-turn is an admission of failure on housing May 15, 2025 Sadiq Khan is spinning his plan to build on London’s green belt as a “radical change of approach”, but it’s nothing of the sort. It will have a very limited impact on housing starts during this mayoral term and may only add to the political heat around house building, says James Ford Margaret Thatcher famously [...]
Trade wars: how will tariffs really affect the global economy? May 15, 2025 Separate the signal from the noise on tariffs and the damage done, thus far, is not significant. However that doesn’t mean all is well, says George Lagarias In all the trade war noise, it is easy to miss just how much global trade conditions have deteriorated in the last few months. If, one year ago, [...]
Green belt homes ‘needed’ to solve housing crisis, Sadiq Khan says May 15, 2025 London is suffering a chronic housing shortage. Lacklustre rates of housebuilding have helped push up the cost of a home to well beyond the reach of ordinary Londoners. The price of an average terrace house in Camden has roughly tripled compared to twenty years ago to more than £1.5m today, Land Registry data shows, while [...]
Burberry ‘optimal opportunity for investors’ as turnaround gains steam May 15, 2025 Analysts have labelled Burberry’s share ‘undervalued’ as the brand’s plan to turn its back on a rocky year gains steam. The FTSE 250 firm reported a major improvement in half-yearly sales on May 14 – although it wasn’t quite enough to stop the company falling into an operating loss for the financial year. Sales fell [...]