Labour tax hikes drive steepest fall in retail sentiment since Covid May 27, 2025 British retailers’ confidence has made the steepest dive in five years, after facing pressures from Rachel Reeves’ £26bn employer tax raid and uncertainty sparked by Donald Trump’s trade war. The drop is the most severe since the Covid-19 pandemic paralysed the UK high street, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Grim sentiment in [...]
Monsoon and Accessorize owner enters the red as sales slip May 27, 2025 The owner of Monsoon and Accessorize slumped into the red as its sales were slashed during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. Adena Brands, which is owned by Peter Simon, has reported a pre-tax loss of £7.5m for the 12 months to 31 August, 2024. The loss comes after the group posted a [...]
Competition intensifies to buy UK supermarket stores despite uncertainty May 26, 2025 Real estate investors are increasingly competing to snap up UK supermarkets as a lack of new locations and slow planning processes weigh on developments. Grocery properties are “proving to be one of the most resilient and attractive investment sectors”, according to research by Colliers. Experts at the real estate firm said international and UK investors [...]
Trump threatens Apple with 25 per cent tariff on iPhones May 23, 2025 President Donald Trump issued a warning to Apple on Friday, threatening a 25 per cent tariff on iPhone sales made outside the US. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the US… be manufactured and built [...]
UK retail sales boost as Brits enjoy warm weather May 23, 2025 Sales rose for UK retailers last month as warmer weather helped drive stronger demand for food and drink, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said overall retail sales volumes rose by 1.2 per cent in April. This compared with a 0.1 per cent rise in March, which was revised down from [...]
Oasis reunion tour to boost London’s economy by £426m May 22, 2025 The long-awaited Oasis reunion is set to deliver a remarkable £426.3m boost to London’s economy, with fans across the UK set to spend over £1bn. New data from Novuna Personal Finance found that the band’s sold-out, seven-night residency at Wembley Stadium will attract more than 630,000 fans to the capital, with each night forecast to [...]
London defies ‘Awful April’ slump with more job postings May 22, 2025 London was one of two regions across the UK to have seen a rise in job postings, with fresh data suggesting businesses in the capital city defied the double whammy of tax hikes and President Trump’s tariff threats. Europe’s richest city has continued to buck the trend of low confidence felt across the country as [...]
Mark Kleinman: Reeves’ City IPO push still lacks momentum May 22, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Reeves’ City IPO push still lacks momentum It’s the City’s most oft-recurring question: how do you reverse the alarming decline in London’s attractiveness as a destination for IPOs? The bald statistics legitimise the urgency of the [...]
JD Sports: Shares drop on tariff uncertainty despite higher dividend May 21, 2025 JD Sports has raised its dividend on a double-digit rise in revenue after an uptick in European and North American demand. Shares, however, dropped more than seven per cent as the retailer warned that the visibility in US trading was uncertain due to the tariff impact. Overall revenue grew 12 per cent to £11.45bn in [...]
Currys: Shares dip despite interest rates helping sales at retailer May 21, 2025 Electrical retailer Currys has reported a jump in profit after sales jumped thanks in part to a boost from lower interest costs. In a trading update on Wednesday, the firm said it expects pre-tax profit to come in at £162m, up 37 per cent year-on-year. Previous guidance had indicated profit for the period ending May [...]