Business news live: UK economy grew 0.7% and financial advice rules get ‘once in a generation’ overhaul

More on vehicle manufacturers now after a statement from Lotus Cars revealed no plans to depart the UK, despite speculation to the contrary.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds was due to speak to the company across the weekend.

“Lotus Cars is continuing normal operations, and there are no plans to close the factory,” a statement said.

“We are actively exploring strategic options to enhance efficiency and ensure global competitiveness in the evolving market.

“We have invested significantly in R&D and operations in the UK, over the past six years. Lotus remains committed to the UK, and its customers, employees, dealers, suppliers, as well as its proud British heritage.”

Lotus is majority-owned by Chinese multinational Geely and employs more than 1,200 people in Norfolk.

Monday marks the day that tariff cuts for car and aerospace sectors coming into action.

The deal is part of the UK-US trade agreement, with vehicle manufacturers now seeing a 10 per cent tariff quota rather than 27.5 per cent, and the aerospace sector seeing no levy at all.

Sir Keir hailed the “historic trade deal” with the US, clinched after Donald Trump imposed the import taxes as part of his “liberation day” tariffs on countries across the world.

A new week has started in the stock markets and, following a strong finish to last week, the FTSE 100 is slightly up this morning at +0.14 per cent.

Defence firms Rolls Royce (+1.8pc) and Babcock (+2.29pc) are the leaders in early trading.

France’s CAC 40 is flat and Germany’s DAX is up around the same margin as the FTSE 100.

The FCA has announced an overhaul of financial advice regulations, meaning millions may now have access to guidance they previously could not afford or were unsure about getting.

In principle, the idea should see “targeted support” bridge the gap between paid-for individual financial advice, and the usual free guidance which is broad-spectrum and not necessarily relevant to any individual.

Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive of the FCA, said: “We want to help consumers navigate their financial lives and plan for the long term. Some of the most difficult financial decisions we face are how to save, invest and prepare for a comfortable retirement.

“These once-in-a-generation reforms will help people navigate their financial lives and give them greater confidence to invest. This is a win-win for consumers and firms alike.”

From January to March of this year, the UK economy grew 0.7 per cent – in large part supported by production and services.

It’s already expected that a slowdown is to be seen for April, and a lot has happened since then – tariffs, Middle East missiles, trade deals, inflation and more – but Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, still expects overall annual growth to come in positive.

“There will be an inevitable slowdown in Q2 (April-June), but we think underlying growth is still positive and expect annual growth of a little over 1 per cent.

“Although headline growth remained at 0.7 per cent at the start of the year, there was a significant change in the drivers of growth. Consumer spending was revised up while total investment was revised down from 2.9 per cent to 2.0 per cent. This makes sense, as the huge jump in the saving rate had seemed at odds with strengthening consumer confidence and the improvement in consumer-facing services.

“Looking ahead, Q2 will look substantially worse than Q1 as there is some payback from activity brought forward to avoid taxes and tariffs. We are expecting growth of 0.2 per cent q/q, but underlying growth remains positive. The big question now is whether the recent string of weak data in retail sales and employment is a one-off, due to the initial shock of tax increases and tariffs, or whether it’s the start of a new trend. We suspect it’s more likely to be the former. Now that uncertainty has started to recede, consumer confidence is rebounding, and business surveys point to the worst of the labour market pain being behind us.

“That said, the economy is facing more headwinds in the second half of the year than it did in Q1, uncertainty remains elevated, inflation will be around 3.5 per cent and wage growth will probably slow further.

“That means growth is unlikely to get back to the heady heights of Q1’s 0.7 per cent anytime soon. Overall, we expect growth of around 1.2 per cent this year.”

Good morning all and welcome to another week in the world of business and finance.

Lots to look at across the week and we’re starting with the UK economy after the latest figures emerged.

Hope you had a good weekend – let’s get back into it.