Britain’s stock markets are now the Europe’s largest in Europe by value, after President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election caused market turmoil in France. The Cac 40 stock index in Paris had its worst week since 2002 last week, erasing all gains made his year and falling nearly 6%.  According to Bloomberg, stocks in France are now collectively worth $3.13tn (£2.47tn), while Britain’s markets are jointly worth $3.18tn (£2.69tn). France’s largest banks have been hardest hit in the rout: BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale lost between 12-16% in value last week.

Big banks’ lending to UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has risen for the first significant time since the start of 2022, according to UK Finance data, which shows gross SME lending rose 15% during the first three months of 2024, to just over £4bn. Overall, new SME finance approvals among high street banks jumped 27% during the first quarter of this year. The value of approved finance also rose 10%. However, the majority of small business lending now comes from outside the big banks, UK Finance says.

Pubs are disappearing at a rate of 80 a month across England and Wales so far this year, according to analysis of official figures by property consultancy Altus Group. The monthly rate of “vanishing” pubs has jumped by 56% compared to last year.

Rent controls in Scotland introduced by the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) have made Scotland a “no-go” zone for investors, estate agent Savills is warning. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon introduced an emergency rent cap in October 2022, causing investment in build-to-rent properties in Scotland slumped 71% in 2023, falling from £224m to less than £65m, Savills says, adding there have been no deals whatsoever in the sector so far this year. Polly Simpson, who acts on behalf of developers to source investment for new housing at Savills, said investors will not even entertain a conversation about Scotland. “It’s just a no,” she said. “There is not even a consideration of a pause. It’s: ‘no Scotland until we have got clarity on what long-term rent controls are going to be’”. Simpson also noted that the measure had been counterproductive. As rent controls in Scotland apply only to existing tenancies, rents have risen sharply on new tenancies, driving up prices 10% year-on-year in April, compared to 8.9% growth in England. [1] “The unintended consequences mean rent controls have hurt Scottish tenants more than they have helped them,” she noted. The policy was supposed to be a short-term measure to support tenants through the cost of living crisis, but the SNP is in the process of finalising its Housing (Scotland) Bill, which aims to make rent controls permanent. Melanie Leech, CEO of the British Property Federation, also told The Telegraph that investment in the build-to-rent sector has “dropped off a cliff”. “Scotland is a no go area for the majority of international investors and for a number of UK investors because of the way it was done. The rent controls were introduced overnight with no consultation and that’s the kind of thing that makes investors really nervous,” she explained. While in Scotland buy-to-rent has ground to a halt, deals worth £555m have taken place across the rest of the UK since the start of this year. However, there are fears Labour may roll out a similar policy in England and Wales: Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is in favour of councils having the power to prevent landlords from raising rents above a set proportion every year, and the Labour party has refused to rule out introducing the policy.

Heathrow Airport shareholder Ferrovial has agreed to sell a 37.6% stake in the London airport to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and French private equity firm Ardian for just under £3.3bn. Ardian and PIF will hold stakes of around 15% and 22.6% respectively, through separate vehicles. Ferrovial, a Spansh construction firm, said it will remain a shareholder, with a 5.25% interest.

The Competition and Markets Authority has approved the £350m buyout by water utility Pennon of Sutton & East Surrey Water (SES), after Pennon offered to give separate reporting information for SES from the rest of its water business. 845,000 customers will now fall under the control of the FTSE 250 firm.

Fuel retailers stand accused by the RAC of using the "distraction" of the general election to keep petrol and diesel prices "persistently high". The motoring organisation claims the cost of filling up at the pumps was "far higher" than would normally be expected as wholesale costs had fallen since the end of April. The average price of a litre of petrol across the UK is currently 146.3p, "5p more expensive than it should be", according to the RAC which noted that the average price for the same product was 141.1p in Northern Ireland.

The London Evening Standard is cutting 150 jobs as it scraps its daily print newspaper for the first time in its near 200-year history, citing as reasons covid lockdowns, the shift to home working, and the recent downturn in the advertising market suffered by most media outlets. Circulation has shrunk to around 300,000, down from a 900,000 high in 2016. The plan is to print only weekly going forward. The proposed redundancies include 70 editorial roles out of a current editorial staff of 120, as well as more than 40 back office jobs, plus around 45 in the Standard’s printing and distribution operations at Broxbourne. Consultations with staff affected will take place over the summer. The future of the Standard’s weekly glossy ES magazine is also thought to be in doubt.

Oka, the upmarket interiors retailer founded by the Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron’s mother-in-law is seeking approval for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that would involve closing one of its 13 UK stores, Sky News reports. OKA was founded in 1999 by Lady Astor, who stepped back recently from the company's board. It employs nearly 250 people in the UK, and up to 40 are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the restructuring plans which is is hoped will save the business.

Barclays bank has suspended its sponsorship of all music festivals staged by promoter Live Nation in 2024, including Download, Latitude and the Isle of Wight after several artists pulled out of the events in protest at the bank's investment links to arms companies that trade with Israel. The BBC reports that country singer CMAT, metal band Ithaca and comedian Joanne McNally were among those withdrawing from planned slots this summer. A spokesperson for Barclays told the BBC: "Barclays was asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024. Barclays customers who hold tickets to these festivals are not affected and their tickets remain valid. The protesters’ agenda is to have Barclays debank defence companies which is a sector we remain committed to as an essential part of keeping this country and our allies safe". Barclays added that the protests had led to intimidation of staff and vandalism of their branches. "The only thing that this small group of activists will achieve is to weaken essential support for cultural events enjoyed by millions," the bank said, adding: "It is time that leaders across politics, business, academia and the arts stand united against this”.

Tesco has reported a 4.6% jump in UK first-quarter sales, but it is the near £10m pay packet of company boss Ken Murphy that is getting attention, after shareholders voted through the deal on Friday, doubling his previous year’s salary. £8.3m of his pay was driven by a performance-linked bonus. Sharon Graham general-secretary of the Unite union said Murphy's wage increase was a "slap in the face to the millions of struggling workers and their families who paid for it through higher food bills". "The fact is, Tesco has taken advantage of the cost-of-living crisis to rake in obscene profits, and it is far from the only one," she added.

Germany is lobbying the European Union to soften or even scrap the trade tariffs proposed last week on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, according to Bloomberg. Duties of between 17% and 38% are due to be levied from 4^th July, on top of an existing 10% import duty, meaning some manufacturers face tariffs at almost 50%. There have been concerns the EU’s move could spark a trade war, and that could be detrimental to Germany: in the first quarter of this year China accounted for nearly 32% of sales at BMW and around 30% at Volkswagen. Germany's economy minister, Robert Habeck is due to travel to China next week. Last Thursday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters: "We urge the EU to listen carefully to the objective and rational voices from all walks of life, immediately correct its wrong practices, stop politicising economic and trade issues and properly handle economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultation."