FTSE 100 Live: Starmer denies Budget ‘misleading’ as Reeves on brink December 1, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the City PM liveblog. It was quite the Budget week to end November and for many more questions were created than answered. Whilst Labour might’ve hoped it would be be their rallying moment – with the lifting of the two-child benefit cap and doubling of the Chancellor’s fiscal buffer [...]
UK manufacturing edges into growth territory for first time in over a year December 1, 2025 UK manufacturing has edged into growth territory for the first time in over a year following months of struggle piling onto the sector. The S&P Global UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI) hit a 14-month highof 50.2 in November, up from 49.7 in October. This placed the industry above the all-important 50 mark which indicates [...]
Markets responded positively to Budget, says Peel Hunt chief December 1, 2025 The boss of one of London’s best-known investment banks has shrugged off concerns over the Budget, suggesting that the tax-raising plans pleased financial markets. Peel Hunt CEO Steven Fine said markets viewed the state of the UK’s finances as “quite stable” following the Budget, pointing to a rise in the government’s fiscal headroom which helped [...]
Gail’s to open 40 bakeries after creating 500 jobs December 1, 2025 Bakery chain Gail’s is to open 40 new sites by the end of February after creating almost 500 jobs during its latest financial year. The London-headquartered business said the new locations will all be open by 28 February, 2026, and it has plans to launch similar numbers “going forward”. The expansion comes after Gail’s opened [...]
World Darts Championship extends title sponsor deal with Paddy Power December 1, 2025 Paddy Power’s title sponsorship of the World Darts Championship will near a decade after the bookie extended its deal with the showpiece event by another five years. The Flutter-owned firm took over from Cazoo in December 2023 and will be the title sponsor until at least 2031 after penning a half-decade extension with the Professional [...]
Argos loses more than £200m as over 2,000 jobs cut December 1, 2025 Argos lost more than £200m during its latest financial year as over it cut over 2,000 jobs. The retailer, which is owned by FTSE 100 supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, has reported a pre-tax loss of £223.2m for the 12 months to 1 March, 2025. The loss comes after Argos posted a pre-tax profit of £37.3m in [...]
Lord Lee: My own plan for fixing financial literacy December 1, 2025 Virtually everyone agrees that there is and has been a near total failure to teach young people about the world of finance, investment, mortgages, etc. in schools. Politicians of all persuasion have failed lamentably in this area. It is truly appalling that many young people are now more likely to speculate in cryptocurrencies than invest [...]
Steven Bartlett hiring journalists for new tech news site December 1, 2025 Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Steven Bartlett has set up his own journalism website focused on technology news, City PM can reveal. The website, Founded.com, is to report on technology companies based in the UK and US and is expected to officially launch in the middle of December. A total of 10 journalists, as well as an [...]
Former City minister Tulip Siddiq sentenced to two years over corruption charges December 1, 2025 Labour’s Tulip Siddiq has been found guilty by a Bangladesh court of influencing ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina her aunt, to obtain plots of land on the outskirts of Dhaka. When Labour won power in July, Siddiq was appointed economic secretary to the Treasury and City minister. However, less than five months into her ministerial [...]
Revolut in new spat with regulators over Storonsky’s residency December 1, 2025 Revolut has been caught in a fresh row with UK watchdogs following the chief executive of the fintech juggernaut shifting his residency to the United Arab Emirates. Nik Storonsky, the boss of the London-headquartered digital bank, sparked waves of conversation after Companies House filings in October revealed the fintech chief had ditch his main residency [...]
