Northern: Cancellations rise as train company’s profit grows July 28, 2025 Government-owned train company Northern cancelled more services as its profit rose during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The number of trains cancelled by the business increased from 7.2 per cent to eight per cent in the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The rise in [...]
FCA urges UK insurers to improve motor insurance claim handling July 22, 2025 UK insurers have been urged to improve their claim handling skills after the UK’s financial watchdog found “concerning evidence” of poor practice in the motor insurance market. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said hikes in motor insurance premiums were down to how claims are handled by insurers, adding that “insufficient management information” was resulting in [...]
Food inflation could push annual grocery bills up by £275 July 22, 2025 Food inflation surged in June as the prices of dairy and fresh meat products skyrocketed. Grocery price inflation hit its highest level since January 2024 at 5.2 per cent in the four weeks to 13 July, according to Kantar. The average household spend at the grocers has now reached £5,283 a year, which could add [...]
Mitchells and Butlers on road to FTSE 100 if streak continues, City broker says July 21, 2025 City broker Peel Hunt has suggested Mitchells & Butlers, owner of hospitality chains All Bar One and Nicholson’s, could make its way into the FTSE 100 if it continues to outperform the market. Mitchells & Butlers has beaten the wider hospitality sector every year since 2017, growing at 3.9 per cent in the first quarter [...]
BP appoints former CRH boss as chair July 21, 2025 BP has appointed a successor for chair Helge Lund, who announced plans to step down in April amid growing shareholder pressure. Albert Manifold, the former chief executive of building materials group CRH, will take over as chair of the oil major in October after a one-month stint as chair-elect. Manifold led CRH for ten years [...]
Soaring beef and butter prices drive food inflation in June July 16, 2025 Food inflation has risen to its highest level in nearly a year as farmers struggle with high costs amid tax rises and extreme weather. Overall inflation was ahead of expectations in June at 3.6 per cent, but food and drink inflation continued to outpace the rest of the economy at 4.5 per cent. This was [...]
Give business a voice to get back to growth July 15, 2025 The energy, ambition and innovative new ideas we need to turn Britain around is out there, it just needs to make itself heard, says Emma Revell Last year I wrote – on these very pages – that “[o]ne of the biggest hurdles we face as a country is a fundamental misunderstanding between the people who [...]
Rachel Reeves’ concierge service aimed at luring investors July 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to launch a “concierge service” for wealthy individuals as part of an effort to lure investors to expand in the UK. During electoral campaigns, Labour hopefuls said they would put wealth creation at the heart of their mission in government. Now Rachel Reeves is set to provide advice to foreign [...]
Forget WeWork and Airbnb: inside the company nailing remote working July 10, 2025 From the Summer issue of City AM The Magazine: inside the remote working company appealing to a new generation of digital nomads Rows upon rows of cookie-cutter houses fill the boujee neighbourhood of Abbot Kinney in Los Angeles. In front of one, a basketball hoop stands by a double garage. It looks like all the [...]
Alarming OBR forecast is too optimistic – debt is set to be 647 per cent of GDP July 9, 2025 The OBR is being far too optimistic in its assumptions about productivity growth in the UK – meaning the scale of the country’s debt problem is even greater than it appears, says Ben Ramanauskas According to the OBR’s forecast, the National Debt is projected to be over 270 per cent of GDP by the 2070s. [...]