Services sector cuts jobs for nearly two years under cost pressures Economics Employment in the UK’s services sector dropped for the 23rd consecutive month in August as businesses maintained hiring freezes and trimmed headcounts following cost pressures. S&P’s latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the services industry – which is closely monitored by economists – revealed the sector has continued its longest continuous stretch of workforce reductions [...]
M&G: FTSE 100 giant hits out at Rayner’s ground rent cap as it suffers loss Property Asset manager M&G has swung to a loss driven by the Labour government’s introduction of a cap on existing ground rents. The FTSE 100 group hit out at the government after it reported a £165m loss for the first six months of the year, driven by a £325m write-down eating into its bottom-line. In its [...]
Greater fool theory helps to explain Premier League’s record £3.5bn transfer window Sport Business The transfer window has left Ed Warner’s head in a spin and even the most devoted football nut must have struggled to keep up, he writes. The football transfer window closed on Tuesday night, with over £3bn splashed out by Premier League clubs for the second summer running. In the end, Everton didn’t sell their [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks shaky as interest rate hike fears hit City September 3, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The FTSE 100 was stuck in a tug of war between risers and fallers on Thursday morning after it was left swimming in the red in the previous session a investors re-assess their monetary policy expectations following a steep sell-off in the the bond market. Two-year gilt yields, [...]
Robert Jenrick: only Reform will cut spending and restore confidence in Britain September 3, 2026 Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s shadow chancellor, says markets can’t be lectured into trusting Britain. Only a credible plan for spending cuts can restore confidence Andy Burnham infamously declared he didn’t want to be “in hock to the bond market”. Six weeks into his premiership, his bold claim has aged like milk. The bond markets are [...]
Andrew Griffith: Burnham ‘making up stories’ about my role in Truss Budget September 3, 2026 Andrew Griffith has accused Andy Burnham of “making up stories” about his involvement in the disastrous Liz Truss mini-Budget as the new Conservative shadow Chancellor fends off a barrage of attack lines from the Prime Minister following his appointment by Kemi Badenoch on Monday. Addressing the House of Commons on Tuesday and again at Prime [...]
Mortgage nightmare as investors price in three interest rate hikes September 2, 2026 Investors have priced in three interest rate hikes over the next two years as a global bond market rout sent UK gilt yields soaring. Two-year gilt yields, which gauges short term interest rate expectations, have jumped over 4.5 per cent, pushing up borrowing costs and putting the UK’s economic stability under threat. The Bank of [...]
Jim O’Neill: Capital gains tax hike ‘looms’ as top option for Burnham September 2, 2026 Lord Jim O’Neill has warned a hike to capital gains tax “looms out” as one of the easiest revenue-raising options for Andy Burnham and his chancellor, John Healey, as the pair draw up plans for their first Budget in October. “They’ve ruled out the three main taxes, so if they’re going to have to find [...]
Burnham will fail unless he pivots on net zero September 2, 2026 Andy Burnham can’t reindistrialise, create jobs or drive down the cost of living while remaining committed to decarbonisation at any cost, says Joseph Dinnage Andy Burnham has promised a political revolution. Through his programme of devolution, the Prime Minister will apparently create new jobs, reindustrialise Britain and preside over new housing. Very laudable. Though he [...]
‘Misleading’ Frasers ad banned amid feud with watchdog September 2, 2026 The advertising watchdog has censured Frasers Group for running a “misleading” ad just days after its finance chief ramped up a bitter row with the regulator. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an online advert published by Sports Direct, which is owned by Frasers, for a Puma sports top which it said misled shoppers [...]