Alarm bells as retail sales suffer largest fall in 18 months June 20, 2025 UK high streets suffered from post-Easter fatigue among shoppers as official data showed retail sales dropped by 2.7 per cent in May. The Office for National Statistics said a fall in sales in May represented the largest month-on-month drop since December 2023. A Bloomberg poll of economists expected retail sales to drop by 0.5 per [...]
The centre-right is in retreat across Europe: here’s how to restore it June 19, 2025 The centre-right dominated post-war European politics, but those days are over. To beat populist insurgents, conservatives must remember the ten Cs, says Joe Harrison Squeezed between Labour and Reform, the Tories are in a desperate struggle for political breathing room. It is tempting to pin this relevance crisis on past blunders – Liz Truss’s infamous [...]
Peel Hunt: Bonuses scrapped for third year running June 18, 2025 Peel Hunt has scrapped bonuses for its top executives for a third year running as losses at the investment bank continued. Chief executive Steven Fine took home a pay packet of £465,000 for the year to 31 March, 2025, while chief financial and operating officer Sunil Dhall received £316,000, according to its latest annual report. [...]
Council finances in dire straits, MPs say June 18, 2025 Councils could run out of money in 2026 due to unsustainable book balancing methods, according to parliamentarians. The hike in national insurance contributions (NIC), combined with spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), has squeezed local council finances, a new report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found. Despite Reform’s DOGE campaign, they [...]
Tax hikes dragging investment to worst level since pandemic, CBI says June 18, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ dramatic tax hike on employment has helped push firms’ investment plans down to the worst level in five years, contributing to a downgrade in the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s latest economic outlook. The CBI now believe that the UK economy will only grow 1.2 per cent this year and slow down [...]
We’ve been building since 1886 – the planning system is the worst it’s ever been June 18, 2025 Delays in the UK planning system – down to brick colour and tile choices – are stalling housing delivery. We need 3,000 new planners and faster approvals to meet national housing goals and boost economic growth, says Tim Roberts When Britain is in the midst of a housing crisis you don’t, as a house builder, [...]
Barclays calls in McKinsey to find savings in investment arm June 17, 2025 Barclays has tapped global consultancy giant McKinsey in a bid to identify cost-saving areas across its investment banking arm. The FTSE 100 bank is looking to simplify its investment bank, with consultants examining the front office, finance, risk and technology divisions. The consultants will be looking at duplication of work and whether tasks can be [...]
Asos replaces finance chief after just one year June 17, 2025 Asos’ chief finance officer Dave Murray has stepped down from his role after 15 months as the struggling commerce giant continued to push a turnaround. He will be replace by Aaron Izzard, who currently serves as director of group finance at Asos. Murray, who will leave to “pursue other opportunities”, has helmed Asos’ finance division [...]
UK aerospace sector to avoid tariffs as Trump-Starmer trade deal clinched June 17, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Donald Trump met on the sidelines of the G7 summit to agree a trade deal that will remove tariffs on the UK aerospace sector and save carmakers from facing aggressive taxes on exports. The pair of world leaders heaped praise on one another while the UK government said the [...]
Further job cuts needed to cope with tax raid, businesses warn June 17, 2025 Businesses across Britain are planning another round of job cuts to deal with the pain of Rachel Reeves’ national insurance raid, laying bare the scale of the financial pressure wrought by the government’s £20bn tax hike after it came into effect in April. As many as one in three businesses said they were planning to [...]