Serco chief hits back at New Statesman’s outsourcing jibes August 6, 2026 Serco’s boss has hit back at media criticism in the New Statesman and other outlets as the under-scrutiny firm boosted its sales and eyed more contract wins. The London-listed firm, which is one of Britain’s largest outsourcing companies running everything from bin collections to asylum accommodation, said it remained committed to bidding for contracts in [...]
‘Social value’ procurement rules are an absurd waste of time and money August 6, 2026 Procurement is not a sexy topic, but stay with me here. The public sector spends around £400bn a year buying goods and services from the private sector. You can imagine the scale: NHS equipment and Ministry of Defence gear, police cars and IT infrastructure, immigration processing centres, security guards, construction projects and fax machines. It’s [...]
Russian propaganda website hit with record ‘pink slime’ payout at High Court August 6, 2026 An Uzbek businessman has been awarded £105,000 in damages and £117,663.38 in legal costs after winning a defamation suit against a UK publishing network – the largest publicly reported payout in a so-called ‘pink slime’ case. A City AM investigation into British publisher 2Trom was presented as evidence in the High Court case after we [...]
Astrazeneca and Jaguar Land Rover given power to endorse talented migrants for visas August 6, 2026 A select group of private companies including Astrazeneca and Jaguar Land Rover will be able to endorse migrants to enter the UK on a skilled talent visa for the first time. The list of over 100 companies, which also includes GSK, Arm and a range of large companies and research start-ups, will now be able [...]
Investors ‘may be less than impressed’ by John Healey’s £9bn borrowing plans August 5, 2026 Investors may be “less than impressed” by John Healey’s plans to increase borrowing by £9bn a year to take stakes in assets such as infrastructure, analysts have warned. On Tuesday evening, it was reported that the new Chancellor and Treasury ministers were working on a proposal to deploy billions in the direction of infrastructure, housing [...]
Net zero and DEI targets cut from procurement rules as firms pressed to raise pay and hire NEETs August 5, 2026 Net zero, modern slavery and equality rules are set to be stripped from procurement rules as Andy Burnham’s premiership looks to force firms to prioritise job creation. Several major tenders for government contracts feature a list of “conditions of participation” that require firms to report on net zero, diversity, ESG –environmental, social, and governance for [...]
What Burnham could learn from BP’s pragmatism August 5, 2026 In 2020, BP unveiled a “major, necessary step in support of our purpose to reimagine energy for people and our planet.” The new strategy – “performing while transforming” – would see the firm “significantly scale-up our low carbon energy business” as part of a commitment “to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner [...]
Where are Andy Burnham’s economic advisers? August 5, 2026 Andy Burnham’s allies boasted that highly-regarded economists had been lured as advisers. Mauricio Alencar and Ali Lyon report on the non-appointments of some of Britain’s best economists – and what the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s new teams look like. In the end, all it took was a few rumours. In the weeks leading up to [...]
Big bank bosses on alert as tax noise gets louder under Burnham August 5, 2026 Banks have delivered booming profits for the first half of the year. In this week’s column Samuel Norman takes a look at how the calls for a tax rise on the sector will get louder under the new Prime Minister. “The saxophones are getting louder” is the internet’s new saying to depict growing anxiety. If you [...]
Luton Airport expansion set for take-off after environmental challenge dismissed August 4, 2026 London Luton Airport’s growth plan has received judicial approval after a campaign group’s legal challenge was rejected by the UK’s top court. The Supreme Court has given the plans the green light after dismissing a challenge from Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN), which had argued the decision was unlawful [...]