FTSE 100 Live: Zurich and Beazley £8bn deal gets time; Defence and bank stocks rally February 16, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The first round of 2026 tech wobbles kicked into action last week and revived fears of an AI bubble. When Anthropic released a new AI tool designed to help in-house legal teams triage agreements and draft routine responses, the reaction trickled down through law firms straight into [...]
UK house prices stall in February after record January surge February 16, 2026 The average asking price of a house dipped by just £12 in February, pausing after the largest January jump recorded in Rightmove’s 25-year history. New listings coming to market this month are priced at an average of £368,019, compared with £368,031 in January, according to the property giant. The marginal month-on-month change follows a £9,893 [...]
City chairman: Reports of London’s death have been greatly exaggerated February 16, 2026 Despite many claims to the contrary, what's happening in London today is not stagnation, but renaissance writes Chris Hayward.
Oak Furnitureland pares back losses as firm eyes showroom expansion February 16, 2026 Oak Furnitureland is eyeing further showroom expansion after the retailer improved its profitability. The Swindon-based business is targeting a host of new stores over the course of 2026 following the opening of a new showroom in Coventry in September, and is eyeing a refurbishment of at least half of its existing store estate by the [...]
Bank of England’s Mann says minimum wage rise linked to youth employment February 15, 2026 An increase in minimum pay for younger workers has led to a rise in youth unemployment, according to Bank of England rate-setter Catherine Mann, as new data shows Britain’s jobless rate for young people has climbed above the European average. The unemployment rate for 18 to 24-year-olds stood at 13.7 per cent in the three [...]
Sarwar says Starmer welcome on campaign trail despite resignation call February 15, 2026 Anas Sarwar has said Keir Starmer would be welcome to join Scottish Labour’s Holyrood campaign, despite having urged him to resign as prime minister only days earlier. The Scottish Labour leader reiterated on Sunday that he stood by his call for a change of leadership in Downing Street, arguing there had been “too many mistakes” [...]
Greene King weighs job cuts as pub sector braces for cost squeeze February 15, 2026 Greene King is preparing to cut around 100 roles as Britain’s second-largest pub operator reviews its cost base against a backdrop of rising taxes and mounting pressure across the hospitality sector. The brewer and pub group, which operates roughly 2,600 sites across the UK, is understood to be assessing changes to its head office and [...]
Carmakers swallow $65bn EV hit as UK bucks slowdown February 15, 2026 A $65bn (£51bn) rethink of electric vehicle strategies by global carmakers is colliding with a very different picture in the UK, where EV uptake continues to climb despite new taxes and policy scrutiny. Manufacturers across the US, Europe and Japan have booked tens of billions in writedowns over the past year as demand undershot expectations [...]
Macclesfield FC: FA Cup heroes in talks with ‘huge’ foreign investors February 15, 2026 FA Cup giant-killers Macclesfield are in talks with two wealthy foreign groups over a transformative investment in the non-league club’s bid to continue their rapid rise. The sixth-tier team pulled off one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history by beating holders Crystal Palace last month and are back in the spotlight on Monday [...]
The gender pay gap will take 30 years to close, report says February 15, 2026 The gender pay gap will take another three decades to close if the current rate of progress is maintained, a new report has found. Despite efforts to speed up the rate of achieving equal pay, it will not be achieved until 2056 unless more is done, according to analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC). [...]