UK business confidence bounces back from Trump’s tariff blow May 30, 2025 UK business confidence rallied in May as global financial markets made their recovery from President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught. Lloyds Bank business barometer jumped 11 points over the last month to 50 per cent. – marking a nine month high. The lender surveys 1,200 companies and weighs up the percentage of firms that have a [...]
Starling Bank: The rise and fall of a fintech darling May 30, 2025 Over a decade ago three fintechs entered the banking scene and set their sights on reshaping its landscape. Starling, Monzo and Revolut rapidly expanded as they leveraged modern tech to streamline banking operations, enhance consumer experience and disrupt traditional financial models. The trio of fintech darlings ballooned customer bases in record numbers. But as two [...]
Civil service cull can save £5bn a year May 30, 2025 Civil service cull can save £5bn a year, Policy Exchange says Cutting 80,000 civil service jobs could save the Treasury as much as £5bn pounds a year, a new report has found, as the government seeks to rein in spending in a bid to stick to its fiscal rules. The research by Westminster think tank [...]
Cyber attacks: What do hackers do with your data? May 30, 2025 A wave of cyber attacks across the UK has left hundreds of thousands of Brits’ personal information vulnerable to online criminals. M&S admitted that hackers stole personal data – but not payments information or passwords – in a cyber attack at the end of April, while recent breaches at the NHS and Legal Aid resulted [...]
Burberry’s decline shows British brands can’t trade on heritage alone May 30, 2025 The decline of Burberry should be a cautionary tale for British luxury brands relying on heritage, writes Manfredi Ricca.
Asda ‘making good progress’ despite sales continuing to fall May 29, 2025 The chairman of Asda has said the supermarket giant is “making good progress” despite its sales continuing to fall. The Leeds-headquartered chain has reported a revenue – excluding fuel – of £5bn for the three months to 31 March, 2025, the first quarter of its financial year. The total is a 5.9 per cent decrease [...]
AI watchdog slams government over facial recognition rollout May 29, 2025 An artificial intelligence (AI) search body has criticised the UK government for accelerating the deployment of facial recognition technology without first establishing a comprehensive legal framework. The Ada Lovelace Institute has warned the increasing use of live facial recognition (LFR) by police and retailers across the UK is happening in a “legislative void”, raising urgent [...]
Transport vigilante Jenrick takes on TfL fare dodgers May 29, 2025 Tory MP Rob Jenrick is amping up his public presence amid growing expectations he could displace an unpopular Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservatives. Jenrick has launched a transport vigilante campaign where he questions TfL fare dodgers on the London underground. London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office did not respond to Jenrick’s diatribe. Ex-Reform MP [...]
Avison Young loses over £100m for a second year as more jobs cut May 29, 2025 More than £100m has been lost for a second consecutive year by the UK and European arm of global commercial real estate services firm Avison Young as it continued to cut jobs, it has been revealed. The Birmingham-headquartered division has reported a pre-tax loss of £101.8m for 2024, having posted the same total for 2023. [...]
Nvidia smashes forecasts – but China trade drag looms large May 29, 2025 Nvidia once again beat Wall Street’s lofty expectations last night, reporting nearly $44.1bn in revenue in its first quarter – a staggering 69 per cent jump year on year. But despite a positive set of numbers and a surge in data centre sales, there are still warning lights blinking on the AI chip giant’s dashboard. [...]