Abramovich defies Starmer with new foundation plan for £2.4bn Chelsea funds April 1, 2026 Roman Abramovich has responded to Keir Starmer’s legal threats to claim the £2.4bn sum raised from selling Chelsea by taking steps to set up a new foundation. An application for the creation of the Foundation for Victims of Conflict will be made this week with the Charity Commission, without the permission of the government. No10 [...]
Bank of England: UK economy risks ‘large and overlapping’ shocks April 1, 2026 The Bank of England has issued a major warning that the financial system is facing increasing risks of “large, frequent and potentially overlapping shocks” amid the volatility from the Middle East war‘ and ongoing market risks’s impact on energy and global markets. In the latest meeting of the central bank’s Financial Policy Committee top officials [...]
Rightmove accused of ‘bullying’ estate agents in £1.5bn legal battle April 1, 2026 Property giant Rightmove has been accused of “bullying” its members into making payments, as hundreds of estate agents support a £1.5bn legal claim against the firm. The FTSE 100 company has been accused of charging excessive and unfair fees to the estate agents and new home developers that used its property listing portal as part [...]
Oracle chops headcount as AI reshapes Big Tech workforce April 1, 2026 Oracle has begun a new round of global job cuts, as the software giant ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and follows a broader wave of layoffs across Big Tech. Employees across multiple divisions, including cloud, health, sales and Netsuite, were informed on Tuesday that their roles had been eliminated with immediate effect. In a [...]
Cavendish warns Iran conflict could damage long-term growth April 1, 2026 Heightened geopolitical tensions, including the Iran war, could damage investor confidence and suffocate long-term growth if they persist, UK investment bank Cavendish has warned. The AIM-listed group noted that while certain “macroeconomic conditions had been trending more positively”, including gradually declining interest rates and rising capital allocation into European markets, investor sentiment continued to be [...]
Berkeley shares plummet as it ‘pulls up drawbridge’ and stops buying land April 1, 2026 Shares in leading housebuilder Berkeley plummeted on Wednesday after it paused housebuilding to protect its balance sheet against an “unprecedented increase in cost and regulation”. The firm’s share price fell by more than 17 per cent shortly after markets opened, to a decade low, leaving the stock down 28 per cent this year at 2,832p. [...]
Rolls-Royce shares rocket to recovery as FTSE 100 takes off April 1, 2026 Shares in City heavyweight Rolls-Royce helped lead London’s blue-chip index higher this morning as markets were buoyed by hopes of peacetalks in the Middle East. Rolls-Royce stock soared as much as seven per cent on open to 1,215.00p. It followed comments from Donald Trump that the US would “leave” Iran in “two to three weeks”. [...]
Two-thirds of hospitality firms to cut jobs as April tax rises ‘suffocate’ sector April 1, 2026 Two-thirds of hospitality businesses will be forced to cut jobs and one in seven will shut altogether as a direct result of “suffocating” April tax rises, leading trade bodies have found. More than half (51 per cent) of hospitality firms will cancel investment plans and 42 per cent will reduce trading hours, according to a [...]
Europe urges fewer flights, remote working as Iran war drains oil supplies April 1, 2026 The spiralling energy crisis is forcing Europe into emergency mode, with politicians urging citizens to work from home, cut back on driving and avoid flying as the conflict in Iran cuts off a critical share of the world’s oil supply. The European Commission’s energy chief, Dan Jørgensen, said Europe is facing a prolonged crisis that [...]
‘Unprecedented’ – Food inflation to soar to 9 per cent by end of year April 1, 2026 Food inflation will soar from three to nine per cent by the end of this year due to the “unprecedented” energy and supply chain shocks caused by the Iran war, a leading association has warned. The rate of food price growth is currently at 3.3 per cent but will climb to nine per cent by [...]