CMA handed ‘strategic steer’ as government pushes pro-growth agenda May 15, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has been handed a “strategic steer” from Downing Street as the government pushes regulators to adopt its pro-growth agenda. The strategic steer, which is issued to regulators each parliament, sets out the government’s priorities for regulators and how they engage with the private sector. According to the Treasury, the steer “resets [...]
London Cypriots to get visit from President in ‘brain gain’ push May 15, 2025 The President of Cyprus will visit Cypriot citizens based in London next week offering them generous tax incentives to return home. The relocation push – dubbed the ‘Brain Gain’ – is backed up with pledges of help with education, housing and free healthcare to lure skilled workers among Britain’s 300,000-strong diaspora back to their home [...]
Green belt homes ‘needed’ to solve housing crisis, Sadiq Khan says May 15, 2025 London is suffering a chronic housing shortage. Lacklustre rates of housebuilding have helped push up the cost of a home to well beyond the reach of ordinary Londoners. The price of an average terrace house in Camden has roughly tripled compared to twenty years ago to more than £1.5m today, Land Registry data shows, while [...]
Imperial Brands CEO to leave FTSE 100 giant as successor named May 14, 2025 The boss of Imperial Brands is to retire after five years at the helm of the business at the London-listed tobacco giant. Stefan Bomhard, who joined the company in July 2020, will step down as CEO in October this year. He will remain on the company’s board until the end of 2025. The German executive, [...]
CMA to investigate Aviva’s £3.7bn Direct Line deal May 14, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has begun an investigation into insurance giant Aviva’s proposed £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line. The Competition and Markets Authority said it had commenced its phase one inquiry to establish whether the deal would result in a “realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.” The CMA has invited comment on the [...]
Is Rachel Reeves breaking up with the OBR? May 14, 2025 CityAM’s City Editor, Simon Hunt, unpicks the stories that get the Square Mile talking Rachel Reeves will do anything to keep the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on side. Or so we thought. The chancellor made a number of last-minute changes to her Spring Statement to ensure her fiscal headroom stayed on target, including [...]
‘Cautious welcome’: City bigwigs react to Mansion House Accord May 14, 2025 City analysts and politicians have been probing the ramifications of the Mansion House Accord, a new deal spearheaded by the government that aims to encourage more diverse investments by pension funds. The accord, which was signed by seventeen major pension funds yesterday, is a voluntary commitment to allocate ten per cent of funds to private [...]
Bytes Technology warns on increased cyber risk as profit jumps May 13, 2025 Bytes Technology has warned of the increased risk of cyber threats as the Leatherhead-based business reported a jump in profit. The software supplier has upped the risk level of potential cyber threats to “increase” on its list of emerging risks, adding that it made the move “because of evolving and elevated global risk to IT [...]
Pension funds sign Mansion House Accord in £50bn boost to UK May 13, 2025 The UK economy could be about to receive a £50bn cash injection after Britain’s biggest pension funds pledged to redirect resources into private markets in a major policy shift. The voluntary, non-binding agreement by the funds, dubbed the Mansion House Accord, will see increased investment into major infrastructure projects as well as greater venture capital [...]
Pension funds that don’t back UK assets should be named and shamed, Phoenix boss says May 12, 2025 Pension funds that don’t invest in UK assets should be named and shamed, the architect of the Mansion House Compact has said, as he called for “bold” action to address problems in London’s capital markets. Sir Nicholas Lyons, chairman of Phoenix Group, said transparency was the best way to catalyse more investment into the UK [...]
