Motor finance complaints hit record levels March 4, 2025 The UK financial ombudsman has received a record number of complaints about motor finance loans in the most recent quarter, according to new data. On Tuesday, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said that complaints about car loan cases had surpassed credit cards as the subject with the most unresolved complaints in the financial sector. Some [...]
Abrdn changes name back to Aberdeen and swings back to profit March 4, 2025 Abrdn has rounded out a bumper year with a return to profit and a total revamp of its brand. The company announced it will change its name back to Aberdeen as it begins the search for its next chairman, who will succeed Sir Douglas Flint. Group chief executive Jason Windsor said: “We are changing our [...]
Lower retail prices drive shops into deflation March 4, 2025 Prices in UK shops continued to fall in February, as discounting in retail offset high grocery prices. Shop prices fell by 0.7 per cent year on year in February against a decline of 0.7 per cent in January, driven by a 2.1 per cent drop in retail prices. “Discounting is still widespread in fashion as [...]
Will western brands return to pariah state Russia? March 4, 2025 It was the sight that heralded a new geopolitical era. Hundreds of Russian punters standing in a disorderly queue and braving the bitter Moscow air to sample their first bite of the latest big import from America. The iron curtain – having been chipped away slowly for years – had fully fallen just two months [...]
AI-men: How Gen Z will join religions created by algorithms March 4, 2025 Bespoke belief systems like tarot and astrology are already gaining popularity with Gen Z – AI will take it further, offering bespoke doctrines, machine-learning-driven prophecies and virtual deities that evolve based on user data, says Paul Armstrong Spirituality is evolving, and Gen Z is leading the charge. Traditional religious affiliation is in freefall (43 out [...]
Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Stand up for the Ulster Men March 3, 2025 In the lead up to the 2024-25 Investec Champions Cup round of 16, City A.M. has put together a barometer in partnership with Investec to assess which teams are hot – and which are not – ahead of April’s knockouts. Team of the week: Ulster Before the weekend Ulster, based in Belfast, had been toppled [...]
International Women’s Day: The future of women in wine March 3, 2025 This International Women’s Day, I caught up with Queena Wong, a wine enthusiast who is helping to reshape the industry for the better Queena Wong has become a controversial character in wine after spearheading the first UK Women in Wine Survey. According to marketing research agency PROOF Insight, 78 per cent of the women who [...]
Bosses fear workers’ rights overhaul more than National Insurance hike March 3, 2025 Employers are more worried about the government’s upcoming reforms to workers’ rights than the widely condemned National Insurance rises announced in the October Budget, a fresh poll has revealed. More than a third (34 per cent) of bosses cited the far-reaching overhaul to employment rights as the biggest challenge facing their organisation in 2025 despite [...]
Mid size firms stifled by export barriers and rising costs March 3, 2025 Increasing workforce costs and export barriers are threatening the growth of UK mid-size firms. According to new research from BDO, which surveyed 500 business leaders representing companies with turnovers between £10m and £300m, the sector cited international trade challenges as the top concern over the next six months. Over a third, 34 per cent, of [...]
One in five Brits in ‘high financial stress’ as economic woes deepen March 3, 2025 Public confidence in the UK economy has taken another hit, with the latest City AM Freshwater Strategy poll showing little hope for the near future. The polling revealed nearly one in five voters, 18 per cent, could not pay an unexpected £500 bill, categorising them as in “high financial stress”. 35 per cent said their [...]