City AM

The UK economy has surprised pundits again and again this year, growing at a much faster rate than almost anyone had expected. A raft of forecasters, both in the City and beyond, have been bumping up forecasts for the UK, with consensus for annual growth now approaching one per cent. At the start of the year it was nearer 0.5 per cent. So why has the economy performed so much better than expected? ✍️ Christopher Dorrell Find out 👇 https://lnkd.in/eEPzYRth

A private healthcare firm will open a £13.5m six-floor women’s centre on Harley Street in autumn this year in another sign that the industry is booming in the UK. The 13,000 sq ft building will offer private GP services with doctors who specialise in women’s healthcare. ✍️ Amber Murray Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/eRAYwq_c

The weather can’t decide what to deliver us this weekend, but regardless, there’s fun to be had across the capital, whether you’re cheering on the British Olympics with a pint in hand or testing the limits of how many chicken wings you can eat a festival devoted to them. Here are six amazing things to do in London this weekend 👇 https://lnkd.in/ecNcvp8h

Sadiq Khan has reiterated that he wants to bring the Olympics back to London as he embarks on a charm offensive to show that the city is “the undisputed sporting capital of the world”. The Mayor of London spoke to City A.M. on Friday while travelling to Paris, where he will use the current Games to bang the drum for the capital as a host city for major competitions and one-off events. As well as the Olympics, Khan hopes to secure the return of regular NBA basketball and WWE wrestling shows, and insists London can rival Saudi Arabia for the biggest boxing cards. “I want to do big events, whether it’s Wrestlemania, whether it’s speaking to the BOA [British Olympic Association] and the new government about a future Olympics, or regular events like NFL [American football], MLB [baseball],” he said. ✍️ Frank Dalleres Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eYHJcRmm

PARTNERED CONTENT || In the countdown to this weekend’s inaugural London T100 Triathlon, brought to you by the Professional Triathletes Organisation, the world’s best triathletes have been visiting local triathlon communities and clubs across the capital. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a new series designed to elevate and further professionalise the sport by showcasing only the world’s best male and female long-distance triathletes in a format conceived specifically for broadcast. Find out more 👇 https://lnkd.in/erY59Bwm

Natwest announced the acquisition of a part of Metro Bank’s residential mortgage book, alongside results showing it performed ahead of expectations in the first half. The FTSE 100 lender reported a pretax operating profit of £3bn in the first six months of the year, down from £3.6bn last year although ahead of the £2.6bn expected by analysts. The fall came due to a six per cent fall in net interest income, which dropped to £5.4bn compared to last year’s figure of £5.7bn. Net interest income reflects the revenue banks make from lending minus the cost of deposits. Compared to last year, Natwest reported lower deposit balances and “lending margin pressure”. ✍️ Christopher Dorrell Read the full story 👇 https://lnkd.in/evx2_aap

High net worth UK investors are more positive on private equity than every other asset class, despite fears that tax changes could scupper positive returns, according to a new survey. Some 80 per cent of UK high net worth individuals said they planned to allocate to private equity and other alternative assets over the next year, according to data from Connection Capital. Despite the bullishness for private equity, the 133 investors that were surveyed reported being neutral on the overall landscape for investing. The survey also contained signs of optimism for the UK economy, with a third of investors feeling more confident about putting money into British companies, compared to a fifth who feel less confident about it. ✍️ Elliot Gulliver-Needham Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eJs9bBaB

Grab a copy of today's paper 🗞️ On today's front page: Bang! And the brands are gone... You can also read the online version here 👇 https://lnkd.in/duAh4qSm

King Charles is in line for a bumper £45m pay rise, a 50 per cent increase on last year’s packet, thanks to sky-high profit booked by the Crown Estate. The body, which owns vast swathes of agricultural land, city freeholds and almost all the UK’s seabed, raked in a record £1.1bn in profit according to filings released today, up from just £442.6m last year. Much of this was down to the lucrative work the estate has done relating to offshore wind projects, which its capacity as owner of the sea bed permits it to auction off rights to develop wind farms off the British coast. ✍️ Ali Lyon Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/efcZwf4X

The Treasury has created a new team to engage with City firms as the new Labour government looks to bulk out the department’s business engagement unit, City A.M. can reveal. It is understood that more staff have been moved into business engagement roles since the election as the new government tries to make good on its pledge to govern in partnership with businesses. As part of this scale-up, a new team has been created to focus specifically on engaging with financial services firms. ✍️ Christopher Dorrell Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/e2dQtmZi