Metro Bank shares soar as lender’s turnaround gathers pace May 8, 2025 Metro Bank said there was a “significant increase” in quarter one profit against the second half of 2024 during a trading update on Thursday. Shares in the bank jumped nearly four per cent during early trading. The London-based firm said it was “confident” it would meet full-year targets after a “structurally higher” net interest margin, [...]
Construction industry ‘not expected to recover’ in 2025, building supplier Lords says May 8, 2025 The UK construction industry is unlikely to recover before the end of the year, one of Britain’s biggest building materials suppliers has said, as firms wrestle with rising taxes and increased uncertainty. London-listed Lords said it was continuing to focus on delivering efficiencies to deal with cost pressures and “an increasingly onerous regulatory environment” after [...]
Trump poised to announce US trade deal with UK May 8, 2025 President Trump will announce a US-UK trade deal today, according to a New York Times report which has since been backed up by Sky News. In a post on X, Sky News’ Sam Coates said that the claims are “substantive”, and that the announcement today would be “a ‘heads of terms’ agreement rather than the [...]
Now is not the time for Labour’s rushed Employment Rights Bill May 8, 2025 Labour's Employment Rights Bill is being rushed through parliament at the cost of small businesses, writes Lord Howard Leigh.
Mark Kleinman: This is not just any retail cyber attack… May 8, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column This is not just any retail cyber attack… It’s hardly an exclusive club these days: a big listed company is the victim of a major cyber attack, compromising its systems and ability to continue serving customers. [...]
Rachel Reeves to blame for UK’s economic uncertainty, report says May 7, 2025 Responsibility for the UK’s sluggish growth prospects should lie squarely with Rachel Reeves’ fiscal policy, Britain’s oldest independent economics research institute has said, as it warned tax rises left the economy in a “risky and vulnerable position.” A report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research pinned the economic uncertainty harming business confidence [...]
Amazon arms UK warehouses with its new robot ‘Vulcan’ May 7, 2025 Amazon has unveiled its most advanced robot to date – a machine that can sense touch – in a move aimed to alter how its warehouses are staffed and operated. The robot, dubbed Vulcan, was announced today at Amazon’s ‘Delivering the Future’ event in Dortmund, Germany. It is designed to replicate one of the most [...]
Lord Cruddas’ CMC Markets takes control of blockchain firm May 7, 2025 CMC Markets, the firm founded by Conservative Peer Lord Peter Cruddas, announced on Wednesday it had acquired a majority stake in StrikeX Technologies. The London-based trading firm upped its holding in the blockchain firm to 51 per cent from 33 per cent previously. Shares in CMC Markets were up 0.3 per cent in midday trading [...]
British businesses must capitalise on milestone UK-India trade deal May 7, 2025 British businesses must grab the opportunity from the UK-India trade deal to access one of the world's fastest growing economies.
London crowned most expensive city for office refits after ‘perfect storm’ of costs May 7, 2025 Demand for high-quality facilities and specialist skills has made London the most expensive city in the world to refit an office, according to new research. The average high specification project in London costs £4,671 ($5,932) per square metre, four per cent higher than runner-up New York and eight per cent higher than third-place Zurich, Turner [...]