Business versus the Budget: How a ‘dismal’ fiscal picture could disrupt Labour’s Party conference September 24, 2026 As business chiefs look forward to the Labour Party conference and the ensuing Budget, Maurício Alencar explores how a difficult fiscal backdrop could disrupt meetings and undermine high expectations. In the months leading up to the Budget, hundreds of notes fly through the Treasury’s letterbox. Emails ping on officials’ phones. Lobbyists for academics, retailers, councillors, [...]
British cybersecurity firm plots £11m Aim float as London IPOs stir September 23, 2026 British cyber security firm Chaleit Holdings is set to float on London’s junior market next month, becoming the second company to unveil plans for a City listing on Wednesday as signs of life emerge from the capital’s battered IPO market. The Cambridge-based business expects to begin trading on Aim on 7 October with a market [...]
Is Carney’s European dream pure fantasy? September 23, 2026 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is making a bold punt for European "integration", but it risks being a fairytale, writes Tim Focas.
UK growth set to slow in 2027, OECD says September 23, 2026 The UK economy will grow slower than expected next year as the effects of a long Iran war drag on activity, the world’s leading economic forecaster has said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy would grow by just one per cent next year, marginally down from a previous [...]
‘Dismal’: Blow to Healey as government borrowing overshoots by billions September 22, 2026 Chancellor John Healey has missed key targets on government borrowing ahead of his inaugural Budget after the UK borrowed more than economists forecast in August. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing in August was £18.3bn, which was about £3.5bn above a prediction by the Office for Budget Responsibility and overshot market predictions. The [...]
Finance chiefs lobby Healey to protect City from fresh tax grab September 22, 2026 City chiefs have warned against a tax grab on financial services and called on ministers to simplify Britain’s “byzantine” tax system, as fears mount that the Chancellor will use his maiden budget next month to launch another raid on the private sector. The Square Mile’s top industry body, TheCityUK, which counts the UK’s biggest banks [...]
Burnham to meet Trump amid Iran war’s inflation spike September 21, 2026 Andy Burnham is set to meet President Donald Trump face-to-face for the first time against the backdrop of the Iran war pushing inflation up to above four per cent within months. On his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Burnham will meet Trump and several other world leaders. Burnham’s meeting with [...]
Energy costs and rate hikes to weigh on growth September 21, 2026 The UK economy is forecast to grow in 2026, but rising energy bills and higher borrowing costs will weigh on activity in the second half of the year. The economy is set to grow 1.3 per cent this year, according to KPMG’s latest economic outlook, after household spending was “supported by warmer weather” while businesses [...]
Summer of sorrow: Property sector bears brunt of August administration spike September 18, 2026 Nearly 2,000 businesses went into insolvency in August as economic pressures and ongoing geopolitical tensions weighed on British firms. According to new figures the Insolvency Service released on Friday, 1,946 firms went into insolvency in England and Wales in August, flat compared to July and down from 2,007 in August 2025. The data showed that [...]
Explainer: What on Earth has the Bank of England done with its bond sale programme? September 18, 2026 The Bank of England chose to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent on Thursday. But its unexpected overhaul of quantitative tightening could be far more consequential, says Ali Lyon. On days when the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee decides the future of interest rates, that choice – and the thinking that goes into [...]