The UK’s cost stack is choking business growth August 18, 2026 Much of the UK has faced a summer of sweltering temperatures as the country hasbounced from one unrelenting heatwave to another. Businesses know all too well that unrelenting feeling. A decade of constant cost pressures from domestic policy decisions has been hugely damaging. It’s a cost stack is chocking business growth. Before a pound of [...]
On this day: Animal Farm is published August 17, 2026 On this day, 17 August, in 1945, with pro-Soviet sentiment rapidly fading in the UK, George Orwell's Animal Farm is finally published.
Should Burnham dash for an early election? August 17, 2026 High on the Burnham bounce, an early election could be a tempting proposition for Labour. But the PM should heed caution, writes Eliot Wilson.
Why did Pinterest choose Oxford Street for its new HQ? August 14, 2026 Pinterest is not a bricks and mortar business, nor is it explicitly a retail one. So why choose Oxford Street for its slick new home?
Britain should back the North Sea if it wants energy security and net zero August 14, 2026 The UK cannot afford to talk up growth, jobs and energy security while turning its back on the domestic resources it still needs, writes David Whitehouse Britain faces a simple choice. While we still need oil and gas, do we produce more of it here, supporting jobs, investment, energy security and lower production emissions, or [...]
Capgemini MD: London must keep reinventing itself August 13, 2026 Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City's great and good. Today, Capgemini UK MD Rob Walker takes us through his career in tech.
The Simon Levy case proves some criminals can never be rehabilitated August 13, 2026 Prisons aren’t meant to punish or rehabilitate, they’re meant to keep dangerous, evil people away from the rest of us, says Tom Harwood How many times must a violent sexual predator be arrested, released, arrested, imprisoned, released, re-imprisoned, released, arrested and investigated for murder, released, and re-arrested again before we start to think that this [...]
Devolution should mean regions competing for investment August 13, 2026 The next phase of devolution should focus less on how funding is distributed and more on how growth is rewarded, says Gus Wiseman For more than 30 years, governments have tried to rebalance England’s economy by directing funding towards regions outside London and the South East. Many of those programmes have delivered worthwhile projects, but [...]
Vibes matter with tax, so here’s how Healey can deliver a feel-good Budget August 13, 2026 We may think it is easy to try to predict how a major tax announcement may impact sentiment based on whether it’s a give or a take. but the evidence shows, there’s no clear correlation between tax cuts and positive reaction, or tax rises and negativity, says Tim Sarson I’ve just come back from a [...]
Britain needs to start designing for drought August 13, 2026 The cultural assumption that Britain will always have enough water belongs to a different climate. This summer should be the catalyst for designing around the one we now face, says Alastair Chisholm More than two thirds of England is now in drought. Hosepipe bans are widespread and, should they prove insufficient, drought orders may follow. [...]