6:43 am, September 9, 2025
Retail sales up 3.1% in August to round off ‘solid’ summer
Retail sales were up 3.1% in August driven by good weather and an interest rate cut to round off a ‘solid’ summer, figures show.
The year-on-year uptick for total sales across the UK was up on last August’s 1% and the 12-month average of 2%, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
Computing and mobile phones performed well as parents readied children for the new academic year, but new school clothing and footwear did not sell as well as expected as some families opted for second-hand alternatives, the BRC said.
Tube strike to cause fresh misery for travellers
A strike by London Underground workers will continue on Tuesday, causing fresh travel chaos for commuters, tourists and other passengers.
Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are taking industrial action all week in a dispute over pay and hours.
London Underground said there were ‘minimal’ Tube services on Monday, with only a few trains on selected shuttle services. Buses were busier than usual and more passengers travelled on the Elizabeth Line and London Overground, which were not directly involved in the strike.
Performance-focused Vauxhall Mokka GSE will be priced from £36,995
Vauxhall has announced that the performance-focused Mokka GSE SUV will be priced from £36,995 – although, as it’s eligible for the government’s Electric Car Grant, the starting price drops to £35,495.
The GSE gets 276bhp electric motor and a range of sporty performance upgrades, as well as a more racy look inside and out.
Vauxhall claims the car can travel up to 209 miles on a single charge and that it will be compatible with 100kW DC rapid charging, allowing for a zero to 80% top-up in 27 minutes.
The markets
The FTSE 100 made steady progress on Monday, despite underperforming European peers, supported by gains in the price of gold and oil.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 13.23 points, 0.1%, at 9,221.14. The FTSE 250 ended 108.91 points higher, 0.5%, at 21,684.45 and the AIM All-Share finished up 4.10 points, 0.5%, at 769.73.
The pound rose to 1.3545 dollars late on Monday afternoon in London, compared with 1.3527 dollars at the equities close on Friday.
Starmer to gather new-look Cabinet as deputy leader race gets under way
Sir Keir Starmer will hold the first meeting of his new-look Cabinet on Tuesday as the race to replace Angela Rayner as deputy Labour leader gets under way.
Sir Keir’s official spokesman said his message to the ‘refreshed, reshaped’ Cabinet would be to put delivery and growth ‘front and centre’ in the second phase of government.
The PM completed a major government reshuffle triggered by Rayner’s resignation, but he now faces the prospect of weeks of manoeuvring for the deputy Labour leadership role she has vacated as the race to replace her is set to stretch past the Labour Party conference and into October.
France’s government toppled as PM Francois Bayrou ousted in confidence vote
Legislators toppled France’s government in a confidence vote on Monday, a new crisis for Europe’s second-largest economy that obliges president Emmanuel Macron to search for a fourth prime minister in 12 months.
Prime minister Francois Bayrou was ousted overwhelmingly in a 364-194 vote against him.
Bayrou paid the price for what appeared to be a staggering political miscalculation, gambling that officials would back his view that France must slash public spending to repair its debts. Instead, they seized on the vote that he called to gang up against Bayrou — a 74-year-old centrist who was appointed by Macron last December.
Monday on Car Dealer
Family-run Ford dealership targeted by vandals who cause £63,000 of damage to cars
A family-run car dealership has fallen victim to a gang of vandals who broke in and damaged vehicles to the tune of £63,000, a court has heard.
Lloyd Motor Group grows JLR portfolio after agreeing deal to buy three sites from Stratstone
Last week’s cyber attack is currently making life tough for JLR dealers but that hasn’t stopped the family-run Lloyd Motor Group from expanding its partnership with the carmaker.
Car Dealer team pick their favourite things about Podcast Live with tickets selling fast
Car Dealer Podcast Live is now just weeks away and only a handful of tickets remain available if you want to be part of the audience.
Online platform Pistonheads launches brand new app for auctions and car sales
Online platform PistonHeads has launched a new mobile app that aims to give a new ‘experience’ to users and car buyers.
Weather
Cloud and rain spread across the southwest today, with Northern Ireland turning cloudy and damp, reports BBC Weather. Elsewhere, expect sunny spells with a few showers, brightest in the east.
Tonight brings heavy rain and possible thunder to the southwest and south, while the northwest stays cloudy; most other areas remain dry.
