Whitbread food sales slump after revealing exit from restaurant arm June 18, 2026 Whitbread has seen food and drink sales slump after it revealed its divisive decision to sell its restaurants and pivot to a hotels-only business. The Premier Inn owner said food and drink sales fell by five per cent to £148m in the three months to the end of May, compared to a three per cent [...]
Tesco fuel sales drag up slowing growth June 18, 2026 Tesco has revealed a nearly 20 per cent boost in fuel sales as the Iran war sends petrol prices soaring, dragging up otherwise slowing revenue. The FTSE 100 supermarket saw fuel sales jump by 19.5 per cent to £1.7bn in the three months to May, while total sales growth slowed to one per cent to [...]
Job vacancies fall again in unemployment risk June 18, 2026 Job vacancies available across the UK dropped again, official data revealed, posing a further risk for Britons out of work. The Office for National Statistics said the number of job vacancies fell by 19,000 between March and May. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 per cent per cent compared to five per cent in data [...]
As it happened: Stocks sink after Fed and Bank of England opt for hawkish hold; Oil price tumbles June 18, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Interest rates were left unchanged at 3.75 per cent in Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meeting today as rate-setters wait to find out whether the Iran war peace deal holds up. The Bank’s decision followed Thursday’s inflation data, which stayed below undershot expectations after coming at 2.8 [...]
LLPs remain under watchful eye – especially from the taxman June 18, 2026 Despite dodging Budget day taxes, the UK’s limited liability partnership (LLP) model is still facing intense scrutiny, this time from HMRC, which just had a good result from the top court this week, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The LLP model, used by professional services such as law firms and accountancy firms, came into force 25 years [...]
Andy Haldane: Britain after Brexit June 18, 2026 The UK economy is suffering from deep-seated psychological scarring caused by a sequence of crises, which necessitates a strategic re-imagining of the state’s role in generating growth, says Andy Haldane We are fast approaching the ten-year anniversary of Brexit – an event that is sure to leave a large and lasting scar on our economy, [...]
Here’s how a levy on assets could work, just don’t call it a wealth tax June 18, 2026 Debate around wealth taxes have become a meme, far too ideological and not technocratic enough. But there is a way to raise a levy on assets without distorting the economy, says Tim Sarson Last week I was scanning the list of topics I’d written about for City AM in the last two years and there [...]
Interest rates next change ‘far more likely down than up’ June 18, 2026 Interest rates are set to be held on Thursday in what some analysts believe could be a split decision as two Bank of England officials could back a 25 basis point hike. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.75 per cent, though some members could back a [...]
Kemi Badenoch pledges to wield the axe on post-financial crisis banking regulation June 18, 2026 Kemi Badenoch will today step up her efforts to woo the City as she promises to wield the axe on post-financial crisis banking regulation if she manages to clinch the keys to Number 10. “London is having its lunch eaten” by overregulation, the Tory leader will proclaim as she proposes a shakeup of the financial regime that she hopes [...]
Vbrick Extends 11-Year Leadership Streak in the 2026 Aragon Research Globe for Enterprise Video June 17, 2026 Vbrick, the leading end-to-end intelligent enterprise video platform provider, has been named a Leader for the 11th consecutive year by Aragon Research in the 2026 Aragon Research Globe™ for Enterprise Videoi. “Enterprise video platforms are evolving from passive content repositories into intelligent, AI-driven ecosystems where agentic workflows can autonomously create, analyze, personalize, and distribute video [...]