Sadiq Khan: Home-working risks London ‘hollowing out’ February 11, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan has raised the alarm on working from home, saying London “cannot afford” to be a city where “the centre has been hollowed out”. The London Mayor urged employers to consider the post-lockdown effect on commuters across the capital, as first reported by the BBC. Khan added unease regarding the amount of young [...]
Bellway: Housebuilder in recovery as share price ‘at odds’ with performance February 11, 2025 Housebuilder Bellway reported strong growth in home completions over the last six months, which analysts have said could be a sign the wider homebuilding sector is set for a recovery. The company reported an 11.9 per cent uptick in housing completions in the six months ended 31 January, with more than 4,500 properties completed with [...]
Commercial real estate: Why London needs 15 new Walkie Talkies February 11, 2025 Commercial real estate can be the growth lever the government is looking for, but as the industry gathers in London today, the global investment community has its eyes on the current shortfall of London offices, says Philip Hobley As Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves cast around for the `growth lever’ there [...]
Retailers unite to warn Treasury on ‘perfect storm’ of costs February 11, 2025 A heavyweight group of retailers has warned the Treasury that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk in the retail sector due to unsustainable cost hikes this year. It’s the latest in a long string of warnings from the retail sector, which has been vocal about the coming damage to jobs and investment on [...]
Farmers warn of ‘breaking point’ at Westminster tractor rally February 10, 2025 Protesting farmers at a tractor rally in Westminster have warned “we are at breaking point” as they called on the government to scrap planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. Protesters staged another tractor protest outside Parliament and Downing Street on Monday, organised by Save British Farming, as they continued to campaign against Labour’s plans [...]
UK economy: Britain’s resilience to tariffs could support pound sterling February 10, 2025 Sterling could outperform against the euro in the coming weeks because the UK is less exposed to the threat of Donald Trump's tariffs, analysts think.
Rachel Reeves to meet bank bosses as growth agenda stalls February 10, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to meet top bank bosses this week in the latest attempt to kickstart her growth agenda. The embattled Labour chancellor has reportedly called in top executives at Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Nationwide, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman. This comes as the government’s growth strategy continues to falter. [...]
Labour market: Vacancies ‘tumble’ in January ahead of Labour’s tax raid February 10, 2025 Demand for staff fell at its greatest extent since August 2020, a new report from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said.
Bank shareholders eye returns as Barclays and Natwest report February 9, 2025 Shareholders in two of the UK’s biggest banks will be hoping for further returns next week as they shed light on recent trading amid an uncertain economic backdrop. Barclays and NatWest will lead a raft of annual results updates by UK banks, after a recent positive period for the sector. Shares in both firms have [...]
Danske Bank shares surge after record profit haul February 7, 2025 Shares in multinational lender Danske Bank surged on Friday after the lender beat forecasts with record annual profits. In its full-year results, Denmark’s biggest bank said it had raked in profits of £2.6bn on the back of a boost in “customer activity” along with low loan losses . The bank, which has had offices in [...]