BGF: Investment giant eyeing up £500m in first external fundraise October 20, 2025 Investment giant BGF has revealed plans to raise external funds for the first time to tune of £500m. The organisation said the move would enable institutional investors the opportunity to invest in UK growth companies through BGF’s regional platform. Lazard has been appointed to advise BGF as it explores its options. BGF’s portfolio includes the likes of [...]
Macdonald Hotels counts cost of huge legal bill after High Court loss October 20, 2025 Luxury chain Macdonald Hotels slumped into the red before being order to pay a huge legal bill after losing a case to the Bank of Scotland. Macdonald Hotels sued the Scottish subsidiary of Lloyds Bank claiming it was “seriously wronged’ by the lender which resulted in it losing out on millions of pounds. Chairman and [...]
Reed Smith latest to enter fledgling Saudi legal market October 20, 2025 Transatlantic law firm Reed Smith has stormed into Saudi Arabia, becoming the latest international law firm to plant its flag in the Kingdom’s new legal market. Two years ago, Saudi Arabia changed its law to allow foreign law firms to operate independently. The Saudi government’s strategy was to attract international business and legal expertise for [...]
B&M shares tumble as CFO quits after huge accounting blunder October 20, 2025 Shares in B&M have tumbled as the firm’s finance officer has quit following an accounting blunder that led to the company overstating its profits. The FTSE 250 retailer said it had failed to recognise as much as £7m in overseas freight costs, which disappeared from its forecasts “following an operating system update.” As a result, [...]
Google boss Pichai admits OpenAI won the first round October 20, 2025 Google chief Sundar Pichai confirmed the intense internal pressure within the Magnificent Seven firm, widely reported as a ‘code red’, that followed the late 2022 launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, admitting that the smaller rival deserved credit for launching its chatbot first. Speaking at Salesforce’s annual tech conference in San Francisco, Dreamforce, tech heavyweight Pichai spoke [...]
Prize draw operator Winvia plots London float October 20, 2025 The London listings revival is gathering pace as prize draw operator Winvia today confirmed plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the capital. The Omaze rival is set to list on London’s junior AIM market, seeking to raise around £40m from the sale of new shares at an expected valuation of around £200m. Winvia [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Fresh London IPOs, L&G in £2bn plan October 20, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. Markets have opened, and here are some of the movements so far on the London Stock Exchange: As Rachel Reeves does her maths ahead of the 26 November Budget, she will hope that Labour’s policies have delivered enough growth to limit the number of tax hikes needed [...]
Build, baby, build? Not without serious property tax reform October 20, 2025 YIMBYs are right about planning reform, but we must also urgently tackle our broken property tax system to beat the housing crisis.
Rachel Reeves’ growth policies scored by City AM October 20, 2025 As Rachel Reeves does her maths ahead of the 26 November Budget, she will hope that Labour’s policies have delivered enough growth to limit the number of tax hikes needed to restore her £9.9bn fiscal headroom. The fiscal black hole facing the Treasury could be between £20bn and £30bn due to higher borrowing costs, productivity [...]
Government must increase financial education in order to boost investment, think tank warns October 20, 2025 The government must do more to encourage wealth building and increase financial knowledge as Brits continue to turn away from retail investing, a think tank has warned. According to the latest report from the Startup Coalition, only 50 per cent of adults invest in the stock market, leaving billions in low-yield accounts and cash ISAs, [...]