Fashion
UK Chancellor unlocks $8.4 bn of trade, investment deals on Gulf visit
The deals came as the Chancellor led the largest UK delegation ever to the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
The package includes up to £5 billion in financing support from UK Export Finance for projects in Saudi Arabia that will unlock supply contracts for British suppliers, and a new Barclays regional headquarters in Riyadh.
British business and jobs will gain from an $8.4-billion boost after UK Chancellor of the Treasury Rachel Reeves helped secure a major two-way trade and investment package during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
The package includes up to £5 billion in financing support from UK Export Finance for projects in Saudi Arabia that will unlock supply contracts for UK suppliers, and a new Barclays office in Riyadh.
Other major deals include a £37-million investment from Saudi cybersecurity firm Cipher to launch its European office London, and a £75-million investment from Saudi investors and bankers into British digital bank Vemi, a uK government release said.
Reeves and Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih co-chaired a growth and investment roundtable with UK and Saudi businesses leaders where she showcased UK investment opportunities.
The Chancellor also met ministerial counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar to accelerate progress on a trade deal between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
She made clear that securing such trade deals is important for reversing the damage caused by decline of the past, including Brexit, austerity and the mini-budget, and is key to delivering more money in the pockets of working people through growth opportunities for business.
A trade deal with the Gulf is expected to increase trade between both nations by 16 per cent, add £1.6 billion to UK gross domestic product every year, and contribute an additional £600 million to UK workers’ annual wages in the long term.
This developed built on last month’s UK-Saudi Great Futures Summit in London that celebrated over £4.1 billion in deals, creating more than 4,100 UK jobs and bringing the total value of two-way trade and investment to over £10 billion in under 18 months.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
According to updated Eurosystem staff projections, headline inflation is expected to average 2.1 per cent in 2025, easing to 1.9 per cent in 2026 and 1.8 per cent in 2027, before returning to 2.0 per cent in 2028. Inflation excluding energy and food is forecast at 2.4 per cent in 2025, gradually declining to 2.0 per cent by 2028. Inflation for 2026 has been revised upward, mainly due to expectations that services inflation will fall more slowly than previously anticipated, the Governing Council of the ECB said in a press release.
European Central Bank has kept its key interest rates unchanged, maintaining confidence that inflation will stabilise at the 2 per cent target.
Updated projections show inflation easing gradually over the coming years, with a slight upward revision for 2026 due to persistent services prices.
Economic growth forecasts have been revised higher, supported by stronger domestic demand.
The ECB also revised its economic growth outlook higher compared with its September projections. Growth is now expected to reach 1.4 per cent in 2025, 1.2 per cent in 2026 and 1.4 per cent in 2027, with expansion projected to remain at 1.4 per cent in 2028. The improvement is driven largely by stronger domestic demand across the euro area.
The Council reiterated its commitment to ensuring that inflation stabilises sustainably at the 2 per cent target. It emphasised that future monetary policy decisions will remain data-dependent and assessed on a meeting-by-meeting basis, without pre-committing to any specific interest rate path.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)
Vera Bradley reported Q3 net revenues of $62.3 million, down from $70.5 million year over year.
Direct revenues fell 5.3 per cent, with comparable sales down 5.8 per cent, while indirect revenues dropped 30.2 per cent.
Gross margin declined to 42.1 per cent, impacted by inventory write-downs and higher duties, despite early progress from its Project Sunshine transformation.
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