FTSE 100 Live: Natwest ups guidance, Retail sales rise October 24, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. As we get closer and closer to the Budget, businesses are becoming more and more vocal on their concerns over what could be in store. Yesterday it was the turn of London estate agent Foxton’s, which warned of softened demand as a result of Budget uncertainty. “Macroeconomic [...]
Consumer confidence remains downbeat amid Budget wariness October 24, 2025 A small lift in consumer confidence over October has failed to take a leading index into positive territory amid fears that the upcoming Budget could damage personal finances. Labour has made boosting living standards a central mission in government while Chancellor Rachel Reeves has recently talked up plans to lower the cost of living for [...]
A mansion tax would hit ordinary Londoners and stall the market October 24, 2025 A rumoured tax raid on sales of properties over £1.5m would be a disaster for Londoners, says James Evans With the Treasury neither confirming nor ruling out the prospect of a so-called ‘mansion tax’ – a capital gains levy thought to be based on the sale of primary residences above £1.5m – uncertainty is already [...]
Is Brexit really to blame for the Chancellor’s growth headache? October 23, 2025 As the government prepares the public psyche for substantial tax hikes at next month’s Budget, the Chancellor has taken a Brexit-shaped risk. Keir Starmer’s government has largely opted for caution over talking about relations with the European Union. The Prime Minister has insisted that re-opening the Brexit debate would bring only “turmoil” but he also [...]
St James’s Place continues on its path to redemption October 23, 2025 The UK’s leading wealth manager, St James’s Place, has continued on with its work to move past its 2024 downfall, reporting a “strong quarter” as funds under management hit record highs. Gross inflows increased to £5.7bn, a 30 per cent jump from the £4.4bn recorded the previous year, while net inflows jumped 98 per cent, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Lloyds takes profit beat, LSEG new investment October 23, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Just how much is the motor finance redress scheme going to cost Britain’s biggest banks? Yesterday’s results from Barclays offered an insight – and it wasn’t pretty. The Canary Wharf-based bank almost quadrupled the provision it had set aside to cover motor finance claims, from under £100m [...]
Brits prep for an expensive Christmas at the grocers October 23, 2025 Brits are prepping for high grocery spending this Christmas as food inflation continues to dominate daily concerns, according to new data. Consumers’ expectations over the next three months of their personal finances worsened to -11 in October, down from -7 in September, according to the British Retail Consortium. The corresponding metric, personal spending on retail, rose nine [...]
These are the taxes Reeves will raise at the Budget October 23, 2025 There won’t be many rabbits out of Reeves’ hat at the upcoming Budget but here’s what to expect: gambling taxes, windfall taxes and an income tax national insurance swap, says Tim Sarson I remember the good old days of Budget predictions. We used to get our thinking caps on about a fortnight before the event, [...]
UK dividends fall as companies battle challenging economic backdrop October 23, 2025 UK dividends tumbled in the third quarter of the financial year, as large companies made significant cuts to their shareholder payouts. According to the latest dividend monitor from financial services firm Computershare, London-listed firms paid their shareholders £24.6bn in the third quarter, through one off and regular payments. This was a 1.4 per cent year-on-year [...]
Britain’s inflation problem isn’t global – it’s made in the Treasury October 22, 2025 Reeves can’t keep blaming the last government or global headwinds for doubling inflation – it’s a result of her own policies, says Gareth Davies When the Conservatives left office in 2024, Britain was emerging from an incredibly challenging chapter in our history. Together we navigated the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, subsequent supply-chain shocks and [...]