Exclusive with Jean Paul Gaultier: ‘Straight actors should be able to play gay roles’ July 21, 2022 It’s 9.30am and Jean Paul Gaultier is relentlessly turning over last night’s performance of ABBA Voyage. It’s far too hot for coffee so we’re sitting with a pair of orange juices and Gaultier is encouraging me to get stuck into the breakfast buffet. I politely decline because there are more important things at hand: discussing [...]
PensionBee eyes profits next year after boom in customers July 21, 2022 Pensions fintech PensionBee said it was on track to hit profitability by the end of 2023 today as it revealed it had boosted its invested customer base by 72 per cent on last year.
CMA slaps Pfizer with record £63m fine for ‘illegally exploiting dominant position to overcharge NHS’ July 21, 2022 Drugmakers Pfizer, as well as Flynn, received a fine of close to £70m after they overcharged the NHS for a life-saving epilepsy drug, the UK competition watchdog has announced. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the two pharmaceutical giants “abused their dominant positions” in the market to charge unfairly high prices over a four-year [...]
Tory leadership race: Truss claims her tax cuts would decrease inflation July 21, 2022 Liz Truss has today claimed her plan to introduce tax cuts worth £30bn+ would “decrease inflation” as she begins her campaign to win over Tory party members and become Prime Minister. The foreign secretary denied claims by economists, and her leadership rival Rishi Sunak, that her tax plans would further fuel the UK’s 40-year high [...]
Marks & Spencer snaps up logistics firm Gist for £145m to take control of food supply chain July 21, 2022 Marks and Spencer has acquired the logistics provider to its food arm for £145m, with the supermarket “taking control of our food supply chain for the first time in our history.” The premium supermarket said on Thursday the acquisition from Storeshield, owned by The BOC Group, would aid its multi-year plan to modernise its food [...]
Regulators call on airlines to comply with consumer law if they want to avoid enforcement July 21, 2022 The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have warned airlines they could face enforcement action if they fail to comply with consumer law. In a joint letter sent to carriers today, the regulators said they were concerned about consumers experiencing harm “unless airlines meet their obligations” and “minimise flight disruption [...]
Sigh of relief for Londoners as ALL long-running strikes on Night Tube suspended July 21, 2022 Long-running strikes on London’s Night Tube have been suspended. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have been taking industrial action over weekends in a dispute over shifts. “We are pleased that after our strong industrial campaign, we have made significant progress on the Night Tube dispute,” said RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch. [...]
Scorching inflation sends UK debt interest bill to record-high £19bn July 21, 2022 Scorching inflation has ballooned the UK’s debt interest bill to its highest level since records began in the early 1990s, official figures published today revealed. The amount of money the UK had to pay investors holding government debt in June more than doubled over the last year, topping £19bn, up from £9.1bn in June 2021, [...]
Australian bidder walks away from £650m race to snap up rail giant Go-Ahead July 21, 2022 Australia-based Kelsian confirmed this morning it has pulled out from the race to buy Go-Ahead – weeks after the board picked a rival offer. The business said falling share prices in Australia tied its hands and forced the group to walk away from a potential tie-up. Kelsian is one of Australia’s biggest bus and ferry [...]
FCA and Andrew Bailey slammed for failing to protect pension savers who were ripped off by poor advisors July 21, 2022 The City watchdog and its former head Andrew Bailey, nowadays the Bank of England’s chief, have come under fire for letting down British Steel pension savers who were ripped off by poor advice from companies they thought they could trust. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) did not protect the members of the British Steel pension [...]