‘Drag on prosperity’: Next boss demands planning system overhaul in rallying cry for growth April 27, 2026 The UK’s planning rulebook should be torn up in favour of a market-based system, the boss of one of the country’s biggest listed companies has said, as he urged government ministers to take a “radical” approach to kickstarting economic growth. Speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies conference in the heart of the City, Lord [...]
Shell snaps up Canadian energy firm ARC for $16.4bn in bid to boost production April 27, 2026 Shell is to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resouces in a $16.4bn deal that the oil major says will boost its production and deliver “value for decades”. The London-listed oil major, which has been under pressure from shareholders to increase output and revive its ageing reserves base, will pay for the deal using 25 per [...]
Former Deepmind star lands $1.1bn backing for AI startup April 27, 2026 An ex-Google DeepMind researcher has secured one of Europe’s largest AI funding rounds, as investors race to back a new generation of frontier labs beyond large language models (LLMs). David Silver has raised $1.1bn (£880m) for his London-based startup Ineffable Intelligence at a valuation of $5.1bn, in a round led by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed [...]
Golden partnership perks? Not anymore, say the Big Four April 27, 2026 As the Big Four giants grapple with profitability challenges, the traditional partnership model is undergoing significant change to prevent the profit pool from being diluted. The traditional dream at professional services firms – joining, working hard and climbing the ladder to partnership within an LLP structure – now looks very different at the Big Four [...]
London named share buyback capital of the world April 27, 2026 The UK has jumped up the leader board to be named the share buyback capital of the world, as companies looked to capitalise on low valuations and improved investor sentiment. Nearly 60 per cent of UK large cap companies bought their stock back in bulk in the last 12 months, according to the latest research [...]
Jenrick to re-write ‘Britannia Card’ plan for wealthy investors April 27, 2026 Reform UK are set to revise the terms of its ‘Britannia Card’ proposal, which was drafted as the party’s bid to lure wealthy foreign investors to the UK, Robert Jenrick has revealed. Jenrick, who is Reform’s Treasury spokesman, hinted that party officials were working on a proposal that was “even better” than a policy announced [...]
UK eyes AI in classrooms as schools face staffing strain April 27, 2026 Advances in AI are moving higher up the UK education agenda, as ministers look for ways to manage teacher shortages without major increases in spending. While the government has so far erred on the side of caution compared to its global peers, the direction of travel is toward a wider use of AI tools in [...]
Sawe and Adidas London Marathon record could see athletes jump from Nike April 27, 2026 Sabastian Sawe’s use of Adidas footwear at the London Marathon to break the two-hour barrier could lure non-contracted runners away from Nike, experts have warned. Kenya’s Sawe became the first person to legally dip under the two-hour mark on Sunday to etch his name in athletics folklore alongside Roger Bannister and Jim Hines, and did [...]
Power Probe launches dividend bonanza after growth surge April 27, 2026 One of the newest members of AIM is gearing up for a dividend bonanza just months after its London IPO. North Carolina-based Power Probe, which makes power tools for the motor industry and debuted on AIM in December, raising $15m (£11.1m), declared an initial dividend of 1.6per share on Monday. The firm, founded in California [...]
Bank of England dissenters expected to back interest rate hikes April 27, 2026 Economists have suggested that at least two members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could vote for interest rates to be hiked later this week. Analysts at JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs have predicted that hawkish policymakers will push back against leaving interest rates unchanged. The Bank’s chief economist Huw [...]