Marriott to acquire smart hotel brand CitizenM for £266m April 28, 2025 Marriott International will acquire hotel and lifestyle brand CitizenM for £266m as it looks to expand its select-service and lifestyle lodging offerings. CitizenM, which opened its first hotel in 2008, currently operates 36 open hotels – with 8,544 rooms – across more than 20 cities. The brand’s current pipeline includes three under-construction hotels comprising over 600 [...]
Fiscal drag pulls nearly 2 million into higher tax bracket April 28, 2025 Income tax thresholds, frozen in 2021, have pulled nearly two million Brits into higher brackets as fiscal drag bites. The number of higher rate taxpayers has increased by 1.88m, from 4.43, to 6.31m, between 2021 and 2025, according to finance specialists Rift. “Rising income taxes have been particularly punitive in recent years, as inflation reached [...]
M&S: FTSE 100 shares continue to drop after cyber attack April 28, 2025 Marks and Spencer’s (M&S) share price has fallen more than three per cent in early trades this morning as the effects of a cyber attack last week rage on. The FTSE 100 retailer’s share price has fallen by nearly nine per cent since it announced the attack in a statement to the London Stock Exchange [...]
Plus500 raises guidance despite revenue dip April 28, 2025 Fintech group Plus500 has raised its outlook for the year despite reporting a mixed start to the year. Its share price dipped 1.6 per cent in early trades. The company told markets this morning that revenue in the first quarter of the year increased by 13 per cent month on month but fell by five [...]
Deliveroo suspends share buyback programme amid Doordash offer April 28, 2025 Deliveroo has suspended its £100m share buyback programme after receiving a proposal from US-rival Doordash. The takeaway giant had unveiled the programme, which would have brought its shareholder returns to £550m since 2023, in its March full-year results. Deliveroo said it could recommence the programme at a later date. On April 25 the company confirmed [...]
Green shoots for jobs market as both vacancies and wages rise April 28, 2025 Job vacancies have grown for a second straight month in a positive sign for the UK economy, although retail has continued to struggle. Vacancies grew year-on-year for the first time since July 2022, up 1.03 per cent to 871,168, according to Adzuna. Average salaries similarly continued climbing to £41,962 in March 2025, a 1.12 per [...]
Housing wealth held by over-60s hits record high April 28, 2025 Over-60s now control more than half of all housing wealth in the UK, according to new research. The rise in value of homes has been particularly acute for those who own property outright, with above-average growth in the number of older homeowners joining the ranks of the mortgage-free, according to property firm Savills. In total, [...]
Fuel for blast furnaces and iron ore supplies arrive at British Steel April 27, 2025 Steelworkers at Scunthorpe have been given a more certain future with the arrival of new raw materials to operate British Steel’s blast furnaces, ministers have announced. 55,000 tonnes of blast furnace coke have arrived in the UK to fuel the Scunthorpe plant in North Lincolnshire, and a shipment of more than 66,000 tonnes of iron [...]
Controversial tower opposed by Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Felicity Kendal rejected April 25, 2025 Plans for a 29-storey mixed-use tower at the southern end of Battersea Bridge have been unanimously rejected by Wandsworth Council. The 110-home Glassmill scheme was voted down at meeting of the authority’s planning committee on Thursday night. The decision follows months of local opposition to the project, with more than 2,000 objections from members of [...]
UK retail sales surge at the fastest rate in four years April 25, 2025 Retail sales unexpectedly rose in March as shoppers were boosted by good weather, according to new data. Retail sales volumes rose by 0.4 per cent in March 2025, following 0.7 per cent rise in February, according to the Office for National Statistics. Quarterly sales volumes rose by 1.6 per cent quarter on quarter and 1.7 [...]
