John Lewis boss: Labour must keep pledge to reform business rates March 12, 2026 Labour must honour its manifesto promise to fundamentally reform the business rates system, John Lewis boss Jason Tarry has said. The retail chairman said the changes at last year’s Budget were positive for retail but offered a “short-term” fix to a system which unfairly disadvantages physical retailers as opposed to online shops. Chancellor Rachel Reeves [...]
HPE leans on Juniper deal as AI drives demand for faster networks March 12, 2026 Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is trying to prove that its $14bn (£10.45bn) takeover of Juniper Networks is already translating into momentum in one of the most competitive corners of the AI infrastructure market. Speaking at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Rami Rahim, the former Juniper chief executive who now runs HPE’s networking business, told [...]
Middle East war ‘could plunge UK into a recession’ March 12, 2026 The crisis in the Middle East could plunge the UK into a recession in the worst case scenario where oil prices surge higher over the next two months, analysis has shown. Oxford Economics research has indicated that a continued surge in oil prices would rattle “parts of the global economy”, with the UK set to [...]
Blitz Golf: Golf’s answer to T20 cricket coming to London March 12, 2026 When LIV burst into the sporting galaxy it promised to be “golf, but louder”. So what do you call golf that lasts just three hours and has been described as the sport’s version of Twenty20 cricket? The answer, it seems, is Blitz. Established in Australia back in 2018, Blitz Golf shot to prominence when cricketer [...]
JeffBet Sign Up Offer – JeffBet Free Bet for Cheltenham 2026 March 12, 2026 Those looking for a welcome offer to get them started on their Cheltenham betting journey should look no further than the JeffBet free bets welcome bonus, which offers a £40 free bet to use during the event. In this 2026 review, users can learn everything they need to know about the JeffBet Cheltenham promotion. City [...]
‘Fibremaxxing’: How food manufacturers made fibre cool again March 12, 2026 “Fibremaxxing,” the UK’s new healthy eating trend, erupted at the start of 2026, as fibre replaced protein as the go-to fashionable food. Previously mundane, bland foods like prunes and seeded bread surged in popularity, with posts with the hashtags “fibremaxxing” having been viewed more than 150m times on TikTok. Sales of prunes increased 60 per [...]
Here we go again: Tube strikes to hit London from March to May March 12, 2026 Fresh tube strikes are set to take place over a period of two months with businesses and commuters hit by union action on some of the busiest days of the week. RMT, the union representing London Underground staff, has announced that strikes will take place over 12 days between March and May, with both morning [...]
Estee Lauder sues Jo Malone March 12, 2026 Beauty giant Estee Lauder has launched legal action against perfumer Jo Willcox (nee Malone) over her new perfume brand with Zara. Estee Lauder bought Malone’s self-named perfume brand and naming rights in 1999 for ‘undisclosed millions’. She stayed on as creative director until 2006, when she left her eponymous perfume brand. After a five-year legal [...]
M&G continues road to recovery as net inflows rise March 12, 2026 M&G reported a reserve to outflows in its latest annual results after a return to growth in its Life business and asset management gained momentum. The investment manager reported net inflows of £7.8bn in the last financial year, up from net outflows of £1.9bn the prior year, which the company pinned on “challenging market conditions” [...]
Lloyds Bank investigating ‘technical glitch’ as users see rogue transactions March 12, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group is looking into a “technical glitch” that left users of the bank’s app on Thursday morning seeing other users’ transactions on their mobile app. The group – which consists of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland – responded to concerned customers on X in the early morning that it was looking into [...]