Three heads reflect on Labour's Spring Forecast 2026.

On today's call were:

• Chief Investment Officer: Gary Reynolds
• Head of Private Clients: Kapil Divecha
• Head of Corporate Clients: Sagar Dholiwar 

Conducted by Head of Marketing, Leo Hallam.

In this fly-on-the wall call the team react to the Spring Forecast 2026, questioning its credibility and highlighting concerns around unrealistic productivity assumptions, weak growth prospects, rising unemployment, and the lack of measures to stimulate investment.

They also consider the political tone of the Chancellor’s statement, the muted response from the Shadow Chancellor, and the implications for inflation forecasts. 

With the conversation shifting to the Iran conflict, Gary’s reassurance that its impact on oil markets is unlikely to mirror the shock of 2022 led to Leo questioning fresh news reports of a 98% increase in gas prices, which all became potentially confusing for an audience to hear while we all scoured the web for more information – so we cut that bit out. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has released its own commentary and Leo plans to ask James for some clarification in the next Market Update scheduled for Wednesday 4th March 2026. Hear the OBR’s response in this press briefing: https://www.youtube.com/live/WORu49odjk4?si=tkqMzu3js4Am7ePs&t=873 

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