Nationwide fires starting gun on mortgage deals ahead of interest rate decision June 16, 2026 Nationwide has slashed its mortgage rates for the second time in the space of a week, ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday. The building society has taken the chop to its home loan prices, with a 0.28 percentage-point reduction. It follows a 0.12 cut on 10 June. The move comes [...]
Bank of England should hold interest rates, Morning Wire Shadow MPC says June 16, 2026 The Bank of England should hold interest rates as inflation could stay above three per cent for several months, top economists have said. Morning Wire’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, a group of leading economists who have provided responses independently of their respective organisations, said interest rates should be kept at 3.75 per cent. Economists warned [...]
Billionaire IWG founder Mark Dixon steps down as chief executive June 16, 2026 The billionaire founder of IWG has unveiled plans to step down as chief executive, ending his decades-long control of the serviced office group. Mark Dixon, the Essex-born entrepreneur who founded the London-listed company as Regus group in 1989, will transition into the role of chairman while chief transformation officer Christian Schmitz is to step into [...]
Rathbones to suspend thousands of client account inflows after FCA probe deals £530m blow June 16, 2026 Rathbones is set to lose out on hundreds of millions of pounds of inflows after it suspended contributions from thousands of customers following an independent investigation into its business amid concerns from the Financial Conduct Authority. The review into the company, known as a skilled person review, uncovered compliance shortcomings in its UK wealth management [...]
As it happened: Stocks rally as Trump touts Iran deal at G7 summit; Oil lowest since early-March June 16, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Global leaders are gathering today in France for the G7 summit as markets digest the latest developments in the US-Iran peace deal. Relief spread across global markets yesterday after the US and Iran were confirmed to have sealed a deal to stop the fighting in the Middle East [...]
Fuse boss attacks planning rules as a ‘self-imposed bottleneck for growth’ June 16, 2026 Alan Chang believes Britain’s energy crisis is largely self-inflicted. The founder of Fuse Energy, the $5bn (£3.72bn) energy supplier and infrastructure developer, argues that the UK already has the ingredients needed to drive investment in the sector. What it lacks, he says, is a planning system capable of turning that potential into projects. “There is [...]
Badenoch: City’s risk culture should be ‘championed’ to boost UK growth June 16, 2026 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the role of Canada would be one of her central levers for driving economic growth, whilst suggesting that financial regulators have buckled to pressure from media and political leaders in recent years. In an address to City financiers, Badenoch will argue that the Square Mile [...]
‘Political point-scoring’ over bank rules risks investment exodus, top Nomura exec warns June 16, 2026 London’s biggest financial institutions could shift operations away from the UK if the government intensifies its regulatory grip on the City, a top City banker has warned. Chris Barlow, head of legal and compliance at Japanese bank Nomura’s European arm, said “short-termism and political point-scoring” in Westminster over financial regulation could exacerbate the burden faced by [...]
Serco hits back after Zia Yusuf accuses FTSE 250 firm of being ‘hostile to Reform’ June 15, 2026 One of the UK government’s biggest private sector contractors has denied being hostile to Reform UK after the party’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf after accused it taking “political positions” against his immigration policy. Citing a report in the Telegraph that suggested FTSE 250 firm Serco would refuse to support Reform’s deportation plans if it [...]
Rolls-Royce shares surge as SMR unit bags multi-billion pound Swedish nuclear contract June 15, 2026 Rolls-Royce’s special purpose vehicle for nuclear energy has secured a major win after locking down a multi-billion pound deal to build small modular reactors in Sweden. The FTSE 100 giant’s small modular reactor (SMR) unit, which is co-owned by Czech power company CEZ, designs and delivers factory-built nuclear power plants. Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by Swedish [...]