Bath Rugby debts topped £32m before Dyson investment as club makes £2.8m loss March 23, 2026 Bath Rugby’s debts to its owner reached £32m in their triumphant Prem Rugby season before billionaire Sir James Dyson purchased 50 per cent of the club. The West Country club last week announced a deal that saw the hoover magnate take an equal stake in the club alongside long-time funder Bruce Craig. The deal reportedly [...]
FCA hands Palantir sensitive data in AI crime push March 23, 2026 Britain’s financial watchdog is turning to AI to hunt down fraud, raising security questions over who gets to see and use sensitive data. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded Palantir a three-month contract to analyse its internal intelligence systems which notably contain highly sensitive case files, in a bid to sharpen fraud detection. The [...]
Federal Reserve orders Oaknorth to set up UK holding firm March 23, 2026 Digital bank Oaknorth has been ordered by the US financial watchdog to switch its domicile to the UK to get the green light on its takeover of a Michigan-based bank. The small business lender is exploring plans to establish a new UK holding company as a way to seal the deal on its acquisition of [...]
Pagefield owner PPHC ramps up political consultancy with WPI acquisition March 23, 2026 AIM-listed consultancy firm PPHC has ramped up its politics offering after acquiring government relations business WPI Strategy. Founded in 2014, WPI turns over around £2.5m per year and counts the likes of London City Airport, Microsoft, Pension Insurance Corporation, and Vodafone Three among its clients. The company, which counts a number of former Labour advisers [...]
Housebuilder hopes raised as government pledges 200k homes in new town scheme March 23, 2026 Housebuilders are hoping for a boom in construction after the government pledged nearly 200,000 new homes as part of its new town programme, though it has cut five potential sites from its shortlist. Labour’s housing and communities department is billing the scheme as the most ambitious housebuilding plan in the last 50 years, with seven [...]
Starmer vows to use ‘every lever’ to protect Brits from damage to UK economy March 23, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to use “every lever” to prevent households from being hit by higher energy prices amid growing fears the Iran war is wreaking havoc on the UK economy. On Monday morning, the Prime Minister suggested an emergency Cobra meeting between the most senior government ministers and the Bank of England governor [...]
Huel scooped up by French food giant Danone March 23, 2026 Huel, the meal-in-a-bottle brand backed by Steven Bartlett, is to be bought by French food giant Danone in a deal worth around €1bn, winning its British founder a £400m payout. The protein shake maker has agreed to a sale to the French consumer goods company as part of its pivot towards nutrition under its new chief [...]
Ministers are sacrificing growth for votes, say top business bosses March 23, 2026 Government ministers have undermined the UK’s long-term economic interests by becoming “trapped” into making poor short-term policy decisions to appease voters, Britain’s top business bosses have warned. The group of corporate leaders, which include Natwest chair Rick Haythornthwaite, Heathrow chair Philip Jansen and Barratt Redrow chair Caroline Silver, said successive governments have failed to prioritise [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery after Trump’s latest TACO; Oil price slips March 23, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets are in recovery mode after a dramatic intervention from President Donald Trump slapped a delay on his bombastic ultimatum. Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Iranian regime on Saturday night, where he called for the full re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is a [...]
Hike in conduct breach reports to FCA ahead of new rules rollout March 23, 2026 There has been a substantial increase in reports of conduct breaches made to the financial watchdog, with the spotlight on City behaviour amid ongoing legal proceedings regarding the disgraced financier Crispin Odey. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) received 10 per cent more complaints in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the law firm [...]