Ex-Lloyds executive wants to ‘fintech’ mortgages February 21, 2025 A former Lloyds executive wants to accelerate the mortgage process by bringing AI into the mix. Stuart Cheetham worked at Lloyds bank for over a decade, spanning senior roles across Asia. He was chief executive in Hong Kong and managing director in Japan. However, since departing the Big Four bank, Cheetham founded his own company [...]
Green shoots? UK retail sales beat expectations in January February 21, 2025 Brits returned to the shops in January as discount spending fueled the first monthly rise in retail sales volumes since last August. Retail sales volumes rose 1.7 per cent in January, following a fall of 0.6 per cent in December, according to the ONS. Analysts had expected growth of just 0.3 per cent. This was [...]
Standard Chartered shares jump after boosting annual profit February 21, 2025 Standard Chartered shares jumped over four per cent Friday morning after the lender posted its full-year results. It announced an overhaul on executive pay, as the multinational bank missed analysts’ profit estimates for the final quarter. Pre-tax profit fell 30 per cent to $800m (£631m) for the fourth quarter. Analysts had estimated the FTSE 100 [...]
Instead of allowing SMEs to thrive, Labour is punishing them February 21, 2025 From day one, this Labour government has prioritised the interests of unions and the public sector over the businesses that actually generate jobs and growth, says Danielle Dunfield-Prayero Labour’s true colours are now on full display. Despite years of warm words to business in the run-up to the General Election, their instincts remain unchanged: the [...]
Public service reform is pro-business, pensions minister argues February 20, 2025 Reforming Britain’s public services is a pro-growth and pro-business policy, the pensions minister has argued. Torsten Bell, who was appointed in the mini-reshuffle following City minister Tulip Siddiq’s departure from government, has said it’s not possible to have a “failing state and a growing economy”, in an interview with the Guardian. The former Resolution Foundation [...]
The Week in Business: Is Rachel Reeves to blame for high inflation and job cuts? February 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves might be able to exaggerate her CV but there’s no massaging the state of the economy. We’re in the eye of the storm; a false calm; growth is flat and the labour market is stagnant – but are things about to take a serious turn for the worse? Earlier this week official labour [...]
Rachel Reeves must act now to save pubs, City broker warns February 20, 2025 Peel Hunt has become the latest broker to issue a warning that British pub culture is at risk due to structural pressures and tax hikes. Hospitality was the biggest driver of economic growth in both November and December, according to the latest government figures. But tax rises in the October budget “halted and reversed a [...]
Checkatrade CEO: ‘My plan to get Britain growing again’ February 20, 2025 The chief executive of Checkatrade has revealed what he would like the government to change in order to boost British businesses and get the country growing again. Speaking during an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered interview series, Jambu Palaniappan argued Labour should reform the rules around planning permission to made it easier for [...]
Consumers’ outlook on the economy drops for fifth month in a row February 20, 2025 Consumer confidence has dipped again in the UK, with Brits’ outlook on the state of the economy dropping for the fifth month in a row. Public expectations for the economy over the next three months worsened to -37 in February, down from -34 in January. Brits’ personal financial outlook dropped to -11 in February, down [...]
How will inflation impact Bank of England interest rate decisions February 19, 2025 The first inflation figures of the year confirmed what many had already known: Inflation will rise significantly in 2025.