Context
On 14 July 2026 the Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her annual Mansion House speech, setting out the Government’s economic strategy, delivery of the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness strategy and the steps being taken to ensure the financial services sector is helping to drive growth across the economy. Alongside the speech, HM Treasury published a “Financial Services One Year On: Delivering the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy” report, and also published an AI Adoption Plan for financial services.
Key points to note and next actions
- The Chancellor set out the impact of the Government’s strategy including taking steps to address cost of living pressures, driving growth across the UK’s nations and regions
- There were announcements on plans to unlock lending and investment in the economy through an SME lending package, to give thousands of small businesses additional support in accessing finance, with an expansion of the Growth Guarantee Scheme, and additional funding to back innovative SME’s and start-ups
- The speech also highlighted reforms to support the UK’s financial services sector by positioning it at the forefront of innovation and to ensure it is supporting all parts of the UK.
- The Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy (the FS Strategy), published in July 2025 as part of the Industrial Strategy, set out a ten-year plan for the UK to be the world’s centre of choice for financial services investment now and in 2035. The government committed to reporting annually on progress delivering the FS Strategy. The ‘One year on’ document sets out key milestones achieved in the first year.
- Reeves acknowledged that financial services was already at the cutting edge of AI adoption, and HM Treasury has published an adoption plan focused on next steps for the government, regulators and industry to accelerate safe AI adoption and innovation in the financial services sector.