Boom in branded treats not enough to offset overall grocery sales July 17, 2025 Premier Foods has reported a slight uptick in sales thanks to a few booming branded categories, although non-branded goods suffered. The company told markets this morning that grocery sales fell 2.7 per cent to £174.7m in the first quarter of the year, with branded sales also down. Overall sales at the company rose 0.2 per [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax raid leads to thousands of job losses as wage growth cools July 17, 2025 Thousands of jobs were lost in June, official data has shown, putting the Bank of England under greater pressure to deal with the consequences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £20bn tax raid at its next interest rates decision in August. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “softening” in the labour market could force rate-setters to [...]
Drop off charges at UK airports hit £1 per minute July 17, 2025 Drop off charges at UK airports have reached the highest level on record amid booming travel demand over the summer. Analysis from the motoring group RAC found 11 airports have jacked up so-called ‘kiss and fly’ fees since last year as part of a long-running trend in the UK. Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport, increased charges [...]
Sticky inflation takes shine off Reeves’ week July 17, 2025 If the Chancellor was hoping to bask in the glow of supportive front-page coverage the morning after her Mansion House speech, she would have been disappointed. The spectacular revelations of Whitehall’s hushed-up cock-up over Afghan refugees knocked her off the top of the news agenda pretty much across the board. Only City AM gave her [...]
Paragon Banking MD: ‘There’s a £500bn savings mountain sat in high street banks’ July 17, 2025 Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Michael Helsby,managing director of strategic direction at Paragon Banking Group takes us through his career, and his reflections on the City, in Square Mile and Me What was your first job? I left school at 16 to become an apprentice Electrical [...]
Financial services firms dealt tens of millions in regulatory fines July 17, 2025 While deregulation may be the political mood, UK watchdogs are sharpening their swords as banking giants bleed millions in regulatory fines. In under just ten days, the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England handed out £74.9m worth of fines to a trio of UK financial services firms. Leading the pack, and most recently, was [...]
Mark Kleinman: Radical Post Office reform has mutual interest July 17, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Radical Post Office reform has mutual interest Talk about a pregnant pause: it’s nine months since I reported that ministers had asked the consulting firm BCG to explore options for transferring the Post Office into mutual [...]
Keir Starmer bars Labour MPs after rebellion July 16, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suspended at least four Labour MPs who have had a record of voting against the government in parliament. The Labour backbenchers to have been barred from the party include Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Rachael Maskell. Sources told The Times, which first reported the story, that the MPs [...]
Powering the Future July 16, 2025 As the global energy paradigm shifts towards sustainability, Saudi Arabia is redefining its position from an oil powerhouse to a pioneering force in renewable energy. At the heart of this transformation is the Ministry of Energy, whose leadership is shaping policy, fostering innovation and thriving ecosystem, and catalysing foreign direct investment (FDI) across clean energy [...]
Companies House reforms: 1 in 5 firms shift addresses July 16, 2025 More than one in five UK companies changed their registered address between January 2022 and February 2025, highlighting the extent of internal corporate changes taking place ahead of major Companies House reforms. Moody’s data, shared exclusively with City AM, also found that nearly 14 per cent of companies changed legal status during the same period. [...]