Retail sales hit highest since 2022 in surprise boost for economy October 24, 2025 Retail sales jumped to their highest level since 2022 in September, boosted by sunny weather that drove a surge in demand for clothing. Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed retail sales were 0.9 per cent higher than the previous three months. Sales volumes climbed 0.5 per cent in September, a significant boost from [...]
Natwest shares jump after cost-cutting boosts profit October 24, 2025 Natwest stock surged in early trading this morning after the lender posted a major bump in third-quarter profit following its cost-cutting regime. The FTSE 100 giant’s operating profit before tax surged over 30 per cent in the third quarter to £2.2bn, up from £1.7bn last year. Shares were up over five per cent as markets [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Natwest ups guidance, Retail sales rise October 24, 2025 Good morning from the City PM liveblog team. As we get closer and closer to the Budget, businesses are becoming more and more vocal on their concerns over what could be in store. Yesterday it was the turn of London estate agent Foxton’s, which warned of softened demand as a result of Budget uncertainty. “Macroeconomic [...]
Scrap stamp duty on shares or risk FTSE 100 exodus, Peel Hunt warns October 24, 2025 The government must scrap stamp duty taxed on share trades or risk a growing number of firms quitting London for the New York Stock Exchange, investment bank Peel Hunt has warned. As much as £200m is already set to be lost from government tax receipts by the decision of Astrazeneca, the FTSE 100’s largest constituent, [...]
Consumer confidence remains downbeat amid Budget wariness October 24, 2025 A small lift in consumer confidence over October has failed to take a leading index into positive territory amid fears that the upcoming Budget could damage personal finances. Labour has made boosting living standards a central mission in government while Chancellor Rachel Reeves has recently talked up plans to lower the cost of living for [...]
Motor finance: Where do the banks, regulator and Treasury stand? October 24, 2025 The UK banking sector had hoped the Supreme Court’s motor finance ruling would finally switch off the hazard lights and allow lenders to return to business as usual. The industry was handed a lukewarm win by the highest court in the land, who ruled in favour of the banks on two out of three cases. [...]
Manufacturing order books suffer sharp drop October 23, 2025 Manufacturing activity in October suffered a sharp drop amid high interest rates and uncertainty around the upcoming Budget, a new survey has found. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s latest industrial trends survey has shown that the total orders balance fell to minus 38. The CBI said September’s figure showed a score of minus 28. [...]
Treasury’s LLP tax proposal could add £46,000 burden per partner October 23, 2025 Law firms’ partners could face an additional £1.4bn in tax each year if the Treasury goes ahead with imposing a 15 per cent rate of national insurance contributions on LLPs. According to data provided by HMRC to UHY Hacker Young, partners of law firms made a total of £9.2bn in profits in the latest year. [...]
How to actually grow the economy October 23, 2025 In this special edition of The Week in Business, City PM Editor Christian May talks to Lord Matthew Elliott about his new book, co-authored with Dr Arthur Laffer, Douglas McWilliams and Lord Michael Hintze: Prosperity Through Growth – Boosting Living Standards in an Age of Autocracy and AI. The book is based on interviews with [...]
Tony Blair calls on Labour to ditch key net zero target October 23, 2025 Tony Blair’s think tank has called for the government to ditch its 2030 clean power target as it urged the Labour government to focus on making electricity cheaper in order to persuade Brits to use it over gas. In a report published by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), researchers called for the government to “solve” [...]
