Labour’s alarmed by the Green surge? So am I. October 21, 2025 Spare a thought for Keir Starmer; he seems to have been so busy fighting a monster on the right, in the form of Nigel Farage, that he hasn’t noticed another deadly enemy emerging on the left. At least, that’s the concern expressed by some Labour MPs alarmed by the rise of the Greens and, specifically, [...]
ONS: We know we need to do more to improve our data October 21, 2025 After calculation errors thwarted the publication of price indices in the spring, the ONS's James Benford explains how the institute has improved its dataset.
Execs see pound signs in AI tech, not just efficiency October 20, 2025 C-suite business executives are even more enthusiastic about AI than the lawyers and accountants at the professional services firms advising them. According to research by Thomson Reuters, 90 per cent of corporate C-suite leaders say AI will have ‘high’ or ‘transformational’ impact in the next five years, compared to just 80 per cent of lawyers [...]
Hundreds of jobs at risk as Pizza Hut UK dine-in arm goes into administration October 20, 2025 The dine-in arm of Pizza Hut has collapsed into administration, putting dozens of restaurants and hundreds of jobs at risk. DC London Pie Limited, which operates Pizza Hut’s UK restaurants, appointed FTI Consulting as administrators on Monday. The 67-year-old chain has said it will shutter 68 venues permanently, while 1,723 workers face uncertainty on their [...]
UK legal sector sees strong growth but AI puts pressure on hourly billing system October 20, 2025 The legal sector in the UK continues to outperform despite challenging market conditions but the uncertainty around cyber attacks could impede firms’ strategic objectives. According to the PwC Law Firm Survey 2025, the Top 10 law firms have reported UK fee income growth of 8.1 per cent, compared to 5.2 per cent across all international [...]
Property taxes send UK to ‘second-bottom’ of global rankings October 20, 2025 The UK is second-bottom of global competitiveness rankings for property taxes, fresh analysis has shown, undermining Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ ambition to “back the builders, not the blockers”. The Tax Foundation’s International Tax Competitiveness Index placed the UK at 32nd out of 38 in a damning indictment of HMRC’s complicated rules and a higher burden preventing [...]
Inflation has doubled under Reeves and she has no plan to bring it down October 20, 2025 Inflation is the unseen robber that diminishes our savings and makes a mockery of our plans for the future. Reeves must explain what she plans to do about it before it gets out of control, says Eliot Wilson When Lord Gove hinted in The Spectator last month at parallels between contemporary Britain and Weimar Germany, [...]
Secure Trust Bank, Bank of Ireland up motor finance provisions October 20, 2025 Secure Trust Bank and the Bank of Ireland have added themselves to a growing list of businesses upping their provisions ahead of a flurry of claims expected in connection with the motor finance scandal. Following the publication of the UK finance watchdog’s review into the saga, Secure Trust Bank said it had more than tripled [...]
Inflation set to hit double Bank of England’s target October 20, 2025 The UK’s isolated struggles with price growth are set to hit a new milestone on Wednesday as consumer price index (CPI) inflation will surge to double the Bank of England’s target rate. In more troubling news for the Treasury and the Bank’s interest rate-setters, inflation is forecast to hit four per cent in the year [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Fresh London IPOs, L&G in £2bn plan October 20, 2025 Good morning from the City PM liveblog team. Markets have opened, and here are some of the movements so far on the London Stock Exchange: As Rachel Reeves does her maths ahead of the 26 November Budget, she will hope that Labour’s policies have delivered enough growth to limit the number of tax hikes needed [...]
