Flash of ‘hope’ ahead of Budget as manufacturing roars back to life October 24, 2025 The UK economy had a flash of “hope” in October after manufacturing roared back to life ending a year-long slump. The latest ‘flash’ PMI from S&P Global showed business activity jumped to a two-month high at 51.1, this was up from 50.1 in September. The growth was driven by a sharp uptick from the manufacturing sector which hit [...]
AI drives surge in fraud as criminals turn to more sophisticated scams October 24, 2025 Fraud losses hit £629m in H1 2025, driven by new investment scams and record card fraud, as AI enables criminals to commit more sophisticated scams. For the first six months of 2025, there were over 2m confirmed fraud cases, a 17 per cent increase, according to trade body UK Finance, as criminals stole £629.3m, a [...]
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, [...]
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. [...]
Exclusive: Labour mulls hefty fine for employers who stop unions entering offices every week October 23, 2025 The Labour government is considering a plan to give trade unions weekly access to businesses’ offices, with fines worth up to £75,000 to be dished out to bosses who bar them from entering. The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) is set to include powers for trade unions to gain “right of access” to workplaces, a perk [...]
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 [...]
