UK retail sales bounce back as Brits enjoyed warmest June on record July 25, 2025 Sales for UK retailers rose last month as Britons enjoyed the warmest June on record, which helped drive sales of food and drink, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said overall retail sales volume rose by 0.9 per cent in June, following a 2.8 per cent fall in May, as consumers [...]
London hotel rates quintuple amid supersonic Oasis demand July 22, 2025 London hotel rates have soared as Oasis fans pour into the capital for a string of shows at Wembley. The average cost of room rates in Wembley jumped to £560 for Friday, 25 July, compared to £114.83 for the following week, according to consulting firm RSM UK. “The impact of this iconic band reforming brings [...]
Planning permissions for home improvements falls to lowest level in a decade July 21, 2025 Planning permissions for home renovations has plummeted as the low consumer confidence permeates the construction industry. Consents for developments in England totalled 151,177 in the 12 months to March, 27 per cent below the 10-year average, according to data from Savills. This is despite a 24 per cent uplift in housing transactions as buyers rushed [...]
Peter Kyle says UK could overtake US in tech amid record startup growth July 15, 2025 Technology secretary Peter Kyle has said the UK is positioned to “overtake America” in key areas of tech, as a new wave of regulatory reforms aims to fast-track innovation and attract investment across AI, fintech and biotech. In an interview on the UKTN Podcast, Kyle argued that the UK is now creating “the best regulatory [...]
Rachel Reeves to face fresh blow with sluggish growth data July 8, 2025 The UK economy is expected to have grown by a miserly 0.1 per cent in May, consensus among City economists suggests, undermining Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ commitment to deliver higher growth. The government’s difficult two weeks could get a whole lot worse on Friday morning when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on GDP [...]
How much tax do you pay above £100k? Britain’s highest earners in numbers July 4, 2025 A growing number of Brits have seen their salaries hit £100k – but a growing number are also feeling underwhelmed after having crossed the threshold. What accounts for their disappointment? There were as many as 1.35m taxpayers earning over £100,000 in the UK during the 2022/23 tax year, an increase of around 16 per cent [...]
Berkeley, Persimmon and Barratt hit by house price slowdown July 1, 2025 Weak growth in UK house prices has hit the shares of the UK leading listed homebuilders, with pundits concerned that a demand for private housing will prevent the government from reaching its ambitious housing goals. Berkeley’s share price has dropped by more than eight per cent in the past month and Persimmon is down four [...]
Disposable income per head slumps despite economic growth June 30, 2025 The Office for National Statistics left growth figures for the UK economy at 0.7 per cent in the first three months of the year unrevised on Monday. Official data from the ONS showed quarter one’s growth was led by a 1.3 per cent increase in the production sector. Services and construction jumped 0.7 per cent [...]
Keir Starmer accused of hypocrisy over Camden housing targets June 20, 2025 Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy over low housebuilding targets in his own constituency amid a country-wide push to ‘get Britain building again’. Camden council, which falls within Starmer’s constituency of Holborn & St Pancras, has shrugged off the government’s targets for housebuilding this parliament and instead used figures set by the 2021 London [...]
Government warned over demand for landlords to retrofit homes June 5, 2025 Government plans to improve the energy efficiency of private rented housing are “unachievable” due to a shortage of skilled workers, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned. Under current proposals by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which are aimed at keeping homes warm and energy bills low, landlords have until [...]