Tesco ‘in talks’ to exit eastern Europe Retail Tesco is reportedly considering cutting loose its business in central and eastern Europe in a move to end its expansion outside of the UK and Ireland. The supermarket giant has hired bankers to explore the possibility of a sale of its operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to the Financial Times. A [...]
‘Inflection point’: Challenger banks loan growth halved in 2025 Banking Challenger banks have reached an “inflection point” after loan growth across the industry halved in the last year, a fresh report has warned. New analysis from Big Four firm EY showed lending growth across UK challenger, specialist and digital banks slowed to 4.5 per cent in 2025, down from 8.9 per cent. This came as [...]
Atom chair: Big banks don’t know their role in economic growth Fintech The chair of digital bank Atom has slammed Britain’s banking giants for failing to drive the country’s economic ambitions. Lee Rochford, who had tenures at Virgin Money, RBS and BNP before Atom, said it was “increasingly unclear what role [top banks] are playing in driving better customer outcomes or supporting UK economic growth”. Chancellor Rachel [...]
Monzo to follow Revolut and Klarna with launch of mobile service August 19, 2025 Monzo has become the latest fintech darling to expand its lifestyle reach with the firm exploring the development of mobile phone services. The London-based firm is looking to offer a Monzo-branded service to its over 12 million in account holders. The service would follow rival Revolut issuing plans in April to enter the mobile market [...]
Why did Santander buy TSB? July 3, 2025 Santander might have hoped its takeover of TSB would make waves across the banking industry, but analysts have dubbed it a more modest splash. The deal, which is set to be worth £2.9bn when closed in 2026, will add TSB’s five million customers, £34bn in mortgages and £35bn in deposits to Santander’s portfolio as well [...]
Challenger banks scout exit routes as giants circle Metro and TSB June 19, 2025 Analysts are pencilling in a fresh wave of banking deals with challenger banks set for a market departure. Moody’s analysts have said challenger banks will “seek exit after weak performance” as industry juggernauts set their sights on ramping up their market share. Takeover talk has gripped the City after reports Shawbrook’s private equity owners were [...]
Tesco: CEO takes home bumper pay packet after profit jump May 8, 2025 The CEO of Tesco took home more than £9m as sales and profit at the supermarket giant beat expectations. Ken Murphy received a pay packet of £9.23m for the company’s latest financial year, down from the £10.24m he took home in the prior 12 months. According to Tesco’s annual report, the CEO’s remuneration was made [...]
Barclays beats expectations after Tesco Bank takeover February 13, 2025 Barclays surpassed analyst expectations in its annual results report on Thursday, after a strong year for its investment banking arm and day one benefits of its Tesco Bank takeover. The FTSE 100 bank reported a pretax profit of £1.7bn in the fourth quarter, ahead of the £1.62bn expected by analysts. For 2024 as a whole, the [...]
Barclays completes £600m Tesco Bank takeover November 1, 2024 Barclays has completed its £600m takeover of Tesco’s banking arm after high court approval for the buyout came on 17 October. As part of a ten-year partnership between the two firms, Barclays will begin operating and managing Tesco Bank. Tesco will keep all of its existing insurance and money services activities, including ATMs, travel money [...]