By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on CityAM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at [email protected] and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Small businesses forced to raise prices ahead of national insurance jump

March 3, 2025

The price of small businesses’ goods and services is set to be the latest victim of Rachel Reeves’ national insurance hike, a new survey has revealed. More than four-in-ten of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have said the government’s increase in National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for employers will negatively impact them. Nearly a [...]
Businesses are ditching card terminals for smart phones

March 3, 2025

New data has revealed that the use of tap-to-phone technology—where businesses turn smartphones into point-of-sale devices (POS)—has boomed over the last year. In the UK, tap-to-phone adoption has exploded by 320 per cent in the last 12 months, compared to the global average growth rate of 200 per cent. Visa research showed that small businesses [...]
One in five Brits in ‘high financial stress’ as economic woes deepen

March 3, 2025

Public confidence in the UK economy has taken another hit, with the latest CityAM Freshwater Strategy poll showing little hope for the near future. The polling revealed nearly one in five voters, 18 per cent, could not pay an unexpected £500 bill, categorising them as in “high financial stress”. 35 per cent said their [...]
Manufacturing job cuts accelerate ahead of national insurance hike

March 3, 2025

Activity in the UK’s manufacturing sector dropped to its lowest level in fourteen months, a new survey has revealed, with lower demand and weak confidence plaguing the industry. The S&P’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed downturns deepened as firms braced for changes made in the Government’s budget to be enacted. The index stood at [...]
FTSE 100 hits all-time high as defence stocks soar

March 3, 2025

The FTSE 100 index rallied to an all-time high on Monday morning, bolstered by surging defence stocks as European countries signalled their willingness to up defence spending over the weekend. The UK’s blue-chip index rose 0.4 per cent or 32 points after the market opened. BAE Systems led the market higher. The firm’s stock jumped [...]
Pay for Lloyds Bank’s top bosses jumps to £5.6m

February 28, 2025

Lloyds Bank’s top executives have received a bumper windfall despite the lender’s rocky results and mass closure of high-street branches. In its annual report published on Thursday, the bank said its top two bosses would receive nearly £2m in bonuses in 2024 in addition to their regular payouts. Chief executive Charlie Nunn will receive a [...]
Thousands of customers unable to use Lloyds, Halifax and TSB banking apps

February 28, 2025

Thousands of Lloyds Group banking app users across the UK have reported technical difficulties when trying to access their money. Outage monitor Downdector recorded issues affecting the Lloyds banking app spike over 4,000 on Friday morning. Users across the group’s subsidiaries Lloyds, Halifax, TSB and Bank of Scotland raised the alarm posting error notices across [...]
Market depth will be key to IPO choice, Monument boss says

February 27, 2025

Ian Rand, the former Barclays executive and boss of Monument Bank, spoke to CityAM about the bank’s criteria in choosing where to list. Monument spiked the City’s speculation following reports it was looking to go public in the US by 2027 – in what would be another huge blow to the London market. The [...]
Banks accused of ‘rigging the system’ against consumers

February 27, 2025

Britain’s top banks are “rigging the system” against consumers and the government must do more, a fintech chief executive has claimed. Financial wellbeing platform Wagestream found 90 per cent of Brits believe they should be saving money but nearly half fear they won’t save a single penny in 2025. The fintech’s ‘State of Financial Wellbeing [...]
Metro Bank returns to profit amid specialist lending pivot

February 27, 2025

Metro Bank swung back to profitability in the second half of the year as the bank pressed on with a move away from retail banking and towards specialist lending. The high street bank pulled ahead of guidance in its full-year posting, after a strong performance in the second half of 2024. The FTSE 250 lender [...]

Thames Water on cusp of public ownership after ‘weak’ deal

2026 World Cup: How England went from misery to magnet for blue chip brands

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Samuel Norman

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