No retail redundancies after Vodafone-Three merger, boss says ahead of shop closures February 5, 2026 There will be no forced redundancies of retail staff following Vodafone’s acquisition of Three, the firm’s chief executive has said, as the telco giant gears up to find hundreds of millions of pounds of cost savings from the tie-up. Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle, who spearheaded the bumper £16.5bn merger shortly after taking the [...]
Six Nations Thursday start is smart from organisers February 5, 2026 It feels slightly odd to be looking forward to the Six Nations beginning this evening when it is only Thursday. That’s because Ireland’s trip to take on champions France in Paris has been brought forward to tonight to ensure there’s no clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan tomorrow. At first [...]
Secure Trust Bank sells motor finance arm after £21m hit February 5, 2026 Specialist lender Secure Trust Bank has offloaded its motor finance arm, becoming the latest UK bank to retreat from the sector, which has been wrapped up in scandal. The bank sold its remaining vehicle finance loan book to European Alternative Investment Fund Manager LCM Partners in a move expected to increase the bank’s CET1 ratio – a [...]
Forget medal targets, Winter Olympics success will be decided on sofas not ski slopes February 5, 2026 Sports fans have a feast of action, from the Winter Olympics to the Six Nations and the T20 World Cup, to gorge on over the coming days, writes Ed Warner. Have you planned your viewing schedule for the next few days? Pushed the football to the margins of your calendar for once? Six Nations opener [...]
Bank of England Live: Interest rates held in narrow 5-4 call February 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England’s monetary committee has decided to hold rates in its first meet of the year. Markets – and City AM‘s own Shadow MPC – had placed their bets on a hold as the Bank continues its gradual chop to the base rate. In [...]
Ageing workforce puts London’s specialty insurance sector at risk February 5, 2026 London’s specialty (re)insurance market employs around 61,000 people, but despite this, the sector is facing a ‘critical’ talent shortage. According to data from the trade body, the London Market Group (LMG), that headcount is up 3 per cent since 2022, but the sector is expected to require around 82,200 by the end of 2034. The [...]
How to look fabulous on your ski holiday (and save thousands) February 5, 2026 Renting skiwear is the latest slopeside trend. Anna Moloney puts it to the test on a ski holiday at A Winter Garden festival.
Anthropic’s new tool raises bar for legal AI startups February 5, 2026 A dramatic shift is underway in the legal tech landscape as AI advancements disrupt traditional industry leaders. This comes as the traditional research and analytics software businesses saw billions wiped out from their market share this week after Anthropic announced its new AI. San Francisco-based AI giant Anthropic, the firm behind chatbot Claude, revealed on [...]
Starmer’s faith in Mandelson was a catastrophic error of judgement February 5, 2026 If Keir Starmer had hoped that his own indignation, doubtless sincerely felt, would put distance between Downing Street and the Peter Mandelson scandal, he was mistaken. Amid dramatic and at times chaotic scenes in the House of Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister was forced into a humiliating u-turn as opposition and Labour MPs united to [...]
Making Tax Digital set to boost SME productivity February 5, 2026 Britain’s push to digitise tax ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline is set to help close its productivity gap with countries like France and Germany, City AM understands. According to Starling Bank, wider use of digital financial tools by SMEs could add £25.3bn to the economy, helping to narrow the UK’s productivity gap [...]