{"id":895208,"date":"2026-10-26T12:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895208\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:22:14","slug":"oct-26-uk-business-activity-grows-800000-without-power-honest-discussion-about-uk-eu-car-dealer-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895208\/","title":{"rendered":"Oct 26: UK business activity grows; 800,000 without power; &#8216;Honest discussion&#8217; about UK-EU \u2013 Car Dealer Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UK business activity grows at fastest pace for eight months<\/p>\n<p>UK businesses have reported the strongest growth for eight months, according to new figures, in a positive signal ahead of the Budget.<\/p>\n<p>New early figures showed that firms were boosted by the sharpest rise in new work for two years.<\/p>\n<p>The closely watched S&amp;P Global flash UK composite purchasing managers\u2019 index (PMI) \u2013 which is based on preliminary data from the manufacturing and services sectors \u2013 recorded a reading of 53.1 for October. It represented an improvement from a 52 reading in September and marked the fastest growth since February.<\/p>\n<p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/cardealermagazine.co.uk\/linkout\/324864\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"notrack\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"br-lazy\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAwIDAnPjwvc3ZnPg==\" data-breeze=\"https:\/\/dotyumzonirqv.cloudfront.net\/publish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0727-Here-and-there-CD-Midpage-600x120-v1-1.gif\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600px\" height=\"90px\" alt=\"Advert\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\nBanks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike<\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s high street banks are set to unveil stronger profits as they face the prospect of being targeted for a tax hike in the Budget.<\/p>\n<p>Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, NatWest Group and Santander will report their third-quarter financial results next week.<\/p>\n<p>Banks are widely speculated to be a target of chancellor John Healey\u2019s Budget this week, with Healey thought to be considering increasing the surcharge on profits from 3% to 8% \u2013 reversing a tax cut for the sector introduced by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt.<\/p>\n<p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/cardealermagazine.co.uk\/linkout\/323704\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"notrack\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"br-lazy\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAwIDAnPjwvc3ZnPg==\" data-breeze=\"https:\/\/dotyumzonirqv.cloudfront.net\/publish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AAD0037_B2B_New_Dealership_Campaign_Digital_Statics_V3_600x90_V3.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600px\" height=\"90px\" alt=\"Advert\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\nGovernment pledges extra \u00a3220m to tackle potholes<\/p>\n<p>The government has released an extra \u00a3220m in funding to help councils in England fix potholes across the country.<\/p>\n<p>That comes on top of the \u00a34.9bn that has already been spent on repairing roads this year, which has resulted in close to 7,000 miles of road being resurfaced, according to the Department for Transport.<\/p>\n<p>Figures from local councils have shown that over 1% more resurfacing has been completed than last year, with \u00a3800 million more being spent than before the current Labour government came into power.<\/p>\n<p>The FTSE 100 ended a losing week in the red on Friday as higher oil prices and lingering artificial intelligence spend concern kept investors sidelined.<\/p>\n<p>In London, the FTSE 100 index ended down 34.67 points, 0.3%, at 10,690.36. The FTSE 250 ended 25.68 points higher, 0.1%, at 24,237.39, and the AIM all-share shed 4.26 points, 0.6%, at 746.67.<\/p>\n<p>The pound was quoted at 1.3376 dollars, up from 1.3365 dollars. Against the euro, sterling climbed to 1.1946 euros from 1.1933 euros.<\/p>\n<p><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dealerway.co.uk?utm_campaign=CarDealerMagBanner1&amp;utm_medium=banner&amp;utm_source=CarDealerMagazine\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"br-lazy\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAwIDAnPjwvc3ZnPg==\" data-breeze=\"https:\/\/dotyumzonirqv.cloudfront.net\/publish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NO-Sellers-Fees-600-x-90-px.gif\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600px\" height=\"90px\" alt=\"Advert\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nRayner: Nothing off table in Burnham\u2019s talks with European Union<\/p>\n<p>Nothing should be off the table in talks with the European Union, Angela Rayner said after Andy Burnham called for an \u2018honest discussion\u2019 about a return to freedom of movement with the bloc.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister wants to consider various options for a new relationship with Brussels, potentially including a return to full EU membership or joining the single market \u2013 which would require free movement.<\/p>\n<p>Burnham will meet EU chiefs including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on November 20 as he seeks to strike a better deal with the bloc.<\/p>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both; display: block; float: none;\"\/><br \/>\nRecovery under way after storms kill man and cut power to 800,000 properties<\/p>\n<p>The recovery is under way after two storms in three days saw one man killed by a falling tree and more than 800,000 properties lose power.<\/p>\n<p>The final weather warning ended at 9pm on Sunday after Storm Boelo pummelled the north of the UK, bringing 84mph gusts and a third of a month\u2019s rain to pockets of Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>Power cuts hit 838,700 British properties during Boelo and its predecessor by hours, Storm Austen. A 60-year-old man died after he was hit by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, western Scotland, at about 10.30am on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Car Dealer chats with family-run retailers.<\/p>\n<p>The man who became one of the most prominent victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal has thrown his support behind car dealer Kevin Mackie\u2019s ongoing legal battle.<\/p>\n<p>China has threatened to retaliate against the UK if the government follows the European Union by imposing restrictions on Chinese-made electric cars.<\/p>\n<p>Northern and eastern areas will start dry with some brightness today, before cloud and rain spread north-eastwards across the UK, reports BBC Weather. Winds will strengthen throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight will be windy, with further heavy rain moving eastwards from the west, followed by clearer spells and blustery showers in many areas.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK business activity grows at fastest pace for eight months UK businesses have reported the strongest growth for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101,375297],"class_list":["post-895208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-headline-block-7"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}