Retailers lock horns with Healey

Afternoon all,

The Chancellor hosted top British retailers at Number 11 Downing Street this morning, who warned him that Labour must “reverse the damage” wrought on the sector by successive tax and cost hikes across the government’s first two Budgets. Our retail reporter Felix Armstrong reports that John Healey stressed the importance of the “vibrancy of the high street”.

Meanwhile, Jamie Dimon warned of economic risks ahead, as the Wall Street bank’s earnings fell short of expectations this quarter. He pointed to big deficits, stubborn levels of inflation and persistent geopolitical uncertainties.

We’ll be back in your inboxes at 8am tomorrow. In the meantime, have a great evening!

Matt

Top retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer pressed Healey on business rates and youth unemployment but the Chancellor stopped short of confirming any Budget measures. 

Healey hosted high street bosses at Number 11 Downing Street for a breakfast briefing on Tuesday, amid growing pressure for the government to slash taxes on retailers and hospitality firms.

The JP Morgan chief pointed to large fiscal deficits, sticky inflation, elevated asset prices, rising interest rates and broader geopolitical conditions.

“These forces may be manageable, but we remain prepared for a wide range of outcomes,” he added.

According to HMRC data, the average ISA millionaire was holding a pot worth roughly £1.3m in April 2024.

Around 60 savvy savers had pots worth around £4m, while the top 25 investors had accounts averaging an eye-watering £11.9m.

According to the elevator manufacturer Kone, Britain’s third-largest urban hub is referred to as the continent’s “after-hours City”, with more than four per cent of lift journeys taken between midnight and 4am – which is twice the European average. 

London, meanwhile, is handed the slightly more belt-and-braces honour of “the out-of-hours office capital”, with 17 per cent of lift journeys in commercial buildings going on outside of standard continental office hours.

Nikhil Rathi told MPs on Tuesday that it was “important for us to reflect on how we communicated and how we engaged with the individual” following the news of Simon Andriesz’s death last month.

Andriesz had worked as a managing director at BGC Group, a financial brokerage where Howard Lutnick had served as chief executive. Lutnick was named Donald Trump’s commerce secretary in late 2024.

Last month Altman, the man behind ChatGPT and one of the world’s leading figures in AI, said it looked like “an awful movie” after watching the trailer.

Speaking to City AM, Artificial writer Simon Rich responded to Altman’s criticism, saying his film is “extremely accurate”.

Marit Rodevand chose to build her financial crime prevention startup in London rather than San Francisco because, despite its challenges, the UK capital offers a genuine commitment to tackling money laundering.

The agreement builds on the global streaming giant’s deal with Fifa for the exclusive rights in North America to show the next two editions of the Women’s World Cup.

It means the 2030 World Cup – uniquely being shared across Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with South American staging the opening matches – will mostly be behind a paywall in one of the primary host countries.

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