Gym brand targets dozens of new UK sites by end of this year
PureGym is embarking on an ambitious expansion drive across the UK, aiming to open up to 60 new gyms this year as it capitalises on a significant increase in people prioritising their fitness.
Known for its numerous 24-hour facilities, PureGym is broadening its reach beyond major urban centres, targeting rural areas and smaller towns alongside big cities.
This push follows a strong start to the year, with 34 new sites already launched across the country, including four that opened on Friday.
The group aims to establish between 55 and 60 new locations in the UK by the close of 2025.
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 10:20
A mid-morning look now at the stock markets before we eye up further meaning behind the economic data.
The FTSE 100 is down about 0.3 per cent. In France and Germany, primary indices are down about 0.5 and 0.2 per cent respectively.
Smaller businesses in the UK aren’t as affected, with the FTSE 250 mostly flat.
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 10:00
Business and economic confidence drops
Lloyds Bank released their index of business confidence overnight and it shows another fall.
The index slid by 12 points in the month to September, down now to 42 per cent.
Additionally, wider optimism in the British economy dipped to 33 per cent, down 11 points.
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 09:40
Reeves can point to ‘heartening’ data from 2024, says expert
Rachel Reeves can pick a few promising points out of today’s GDP data, says Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis.
While it’s far from a stellar report card, bigger growth after Labour took over is a positive, while an overall 1.3% growth for the year is also…well, better than nothing.
“There is no good news for the chancellor in this latest economic data, but there’s no worse news either,” Ms Hewson said.
“Official figures confirm that the growth spurt enjoyed by the UK economy at the start of the year did indeed start to peter out in the second quarter as a mix of global and domestic headwinds blew through.
“Households were also showing restraint when it came to their own finances, with the savings ratio ticking up in the second quarter as people looked to create a cushion amid concerns about a weakening jobs market.
“What will be heartening for Rachel Reeves is the revision to 2024 data, which showed that growth during Labour’s first months in government was chunkier than had been previously thought, though growth as a whole last year was limited to 1.1%.
“Even with all the challenges, negativity and speculation about tough decisions to come in November’s Budget, the UK economy is proving resilient and it is forecast to grow by around 1.3% over the course of the full year.
“It’s not the kind of growth that the government would like, nor is it the kind of growth that will change those tough decisions, but it is still growth.”
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 09:24
Labour MP calls for National Insurance to be scrapped
Chris Curtis, a Labour MP, has said at the Labour Party Conference that National Insurance should be replaced.
“I think Jeremy Hunt was probably right about getting rid of National Insurance. But we’d pay for it by increasing income tax. The move towards simplification is good,” he said.
He also urged Rachel Reeves to make “bold” choices in the Budget as there were likely no “easy” ones regardless.
“When you’ve got no easy decisions, you might as well make the right ones. We should try to raise more [revenue] than we need to and build more of a headroom than we’ve had in the past.”
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 09:00
Households saving more due to Budget uncertainty
We turn now to one of our economic experts who has sifted through the data, including not just these revised GDP figures but also the accounts which show household saving and spending.
That shows households are saving slightly more and are likely cautious about personal finance situations, given uncertainty on the domestic front and a slew of negative economy-related announcements.
“The big question now is whether speculation about the budget will undermine confidence further,” said Thomas Pugh, chief economist at tax firm RSM UK.
“Headline growth remained at 0.3% in Q2. But the saving rate increased from an already high 10.5% to 10.7%. This was driven by an increase in non-pension saving suggesting that consumer caution after April’s tax and tariff increases prompted households to save more.
“Looking ahead, the second half of the year will be tougher going than the first six months. The combination of inflation reaching 4% and a weakening labour market, means real pay growth is set to slow to almost zero. What’s more, the chances of further interest rate cuts this year look slim.
“The wildcard is how much speculation about tax rises in the upcoming budget will dent consumer and business confidence. The risk is that we get a repeat of last year and growth effectively flatlines in the second half of the year. Overall, we expect growth of around 1.3% this year.”
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 08:40
UK production fell 0.8% in worrying decline for Reeves
Back to the economic data and we’ve got figures from the ONS which show areas of industry that contributed to the overall 0.3% growth.
Information and communication services grew 2.5 per cent, while human health and social work activities was the second-biggest contributor in services, up 1.2 per cent.
In production, pharmaceuticals was easily the lead contributor, growing 6.9 per cent, but production overall fell by 0.8 per cent.
This will be the major area of concern for Reeeves and co, who cannot afford for production and manufacturing to be on the decline.
Nine of the 13 subsections in production fell though, including metals, manufacturing and repair, and foods, beverages and tobacco.
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 08:20
Retail prices show 1.4% inflation last month – but food prices may have peaked
Outside of UK economic data for the moment (though certainly related), figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ released today show shop prices continue to increase.
Annual shop price inflation rose to 1.4 per cent in September.
That’s an increase from the 0.9 per cent in August, but food price inflation finally remained the same at 4.2 per cent after rising for most of this year.
Other non-food items had been lower in price of late compared to a year ago, but last month were almost back to level, at 0.1 per cent lower.
Helen Dickinson, the BRC chief executive, said:“Households are finding shopping increasingly expensive. The impact on retailers and their supply chain of both global factors and higher national insurance and wage costs is playing out in prices for consumers.”
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 08:00
Economy grew faster than expected at the end of last year
As mentioned, there is no revision to the estimates for 2025, but a couple of alterations for last year.
Essentially, the economy grew by less than the ONS expected at the start of 2024, but by more than expected towards the end of it.
“Across 2024 as a whole, annual growth is estimated at an unrevised 1.1% increase,” the ONS said.
This graph should help showcase that visually.
(ONS)
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 07:45
Why the slowdown in UK economy from Q1 to Q2?
Rachel Reeves and the rest of the government are desperate for economic growth to fire into gear but, as the chancellor noted yesterday, there have been some pretty big external factors to contend with this year.
However, there have also been several of their own making.
The ONS point to stamp duty as one big reason for the drop in GDP growth between the first and second quarters of the year, as people rushed through certain deals including house purchases to beat the raise.
Their statement today noted the step drop was in part due to “some activity was brought forward to February and March 2025 ahead of changes to Stamp Duty in April and, to some extent, ahead of announced US tariff changes.”
Karl Matchett30 September 2025 07:30