FTSE 100 Live: Shawbrook confirms IPO; Aston Martin hit by tariffs October 6, 2025 Good morning from the Morning Wire liveblog team. After a worryingly-long drought, the London IPO market roared back to life this morning following a shot in the arm last week. Shawbrook has kicked off the week putting the City on the front foot after confirming intentions of a float. It’s a major boost, one that [...]
Reeves and Goldman chief to pitch London to IPO candidates October 5, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves will pitch to London Stock Exchange flotation candidates alongside one of the City’s top bankers, in her bid to revive interest in the struggling UK market. First reported by Sky News, Reeves and Lucy Rugby, the newly appointed City minister, will host a group of company bosses on Monday to discuss “the [...]
Jaguar Land Rover to bailout suppliers after state ‘rescue’ stalls October 5, 2025 Jaguar Land Rover is finalising a deal to lend its suppliers millions of pounds as the tax-payer backed rescue of the carmaker hit a wall. Bosses are putting the final touches to a sweeping lifeline that would see up to £500m be injected into its supply chain, which is at a standstill. The privately funded [...]
Rachel Reeves mulls hiring ‘outsider’ for banking watchdog role October 4, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to hire a City heavyweight to succeed Sam Woods as the chief executive of the main banking watchdog once his term ends in the middle of next year, it has been reported. Sam Woods’ term as chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the watchdog which is part of [...]
IPO woes: Can LED face masks and tinned tuna IPOs revitalise London? October 4, 2025 The City heaved a sigh of relief on Friday morning, as two companies ploughed ahead with their plans to list on the London market, signalling that an IPO drought that has long plagued the London bourse may soon come to an end. The Beauty Tech Group announced the successful pricing of its initial public offering [...]
Frasers Group chairman urges Unite to avoid ‘reckless’ strike October 3, 2025 The chairman of retail giant Frasers Group has urged Unite the Union to avoid “reckless and irresponsible” strike action as retail firms across the UK feel the crunch of rising cost pressures. Sir Jonathan Thompson, who took the role of Chair in September, has asked the Union’s General Secretary Sharon Graham to reconsider plans to [...]
‘Subdued’ services sector suffers steep drop as tax hikes bite October 3, 2025 Business activity expansion fell to a five-month low after a “subdued” services sector experienced a dull end to the third quarter. S&P’s UK Services Purchasing Managers Index Business Activity tumbled to 50.8 in September, falling steeply from the 16-month high of 54.2 secured in August. “This summer’s acceleration in output growth is now looking like [...]
OBR hands Rachel Reeves first damning pre-Budget report on UK economy October 3, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has handed Chancellor Rachel Reeves its first evaluation of the state of the UK economy and crippled public finances, setting policy discussions about likely £30bn tax rises and possible savings in motion. The OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee, which consists of the economists Richard Hughes, David Miles and Tom Josephs, [...]
Retail investors put increasing trust in AI to build their portfolio October 2, 2025 UK retail investors are putting increasing amounts of trust in AI tools to build their investment portfolio, believing it is able to make more informed decisions. According to the latest report from investment platform eToro, the number of investors using AI tools has increased by 45 per cent over the last year. Of the investors [...]
Thames Water creditors offer £4bn debt write-off October 2, 2025 Creditors of Thames Water have made a rescue offer for the failing company by allowing a £4bn write-off of their debt in return for changed targets on pollution incidents. The deal would see 25 per cent of Thames Water’s debt written off but the group, under the consortium London & Valley Water, would see regulators [...]