Eurostar halts London-Paris trains for rest of day after unexploded bomb found March 7, 2025 Eurostar has suspended services between London and Paris for the rest of Friday after the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb near tracks in the French capital. Thousands of passengers are disrupted as the cross-Channel operator was scheduled to run 32 trains in either direction throughout the day. A large crowd of people [...]
Why ISAs and pensions make a ‘perfect combination’ March 7, 2025 A key personal finance deadline is approaching. Savers with Individual Savings Accounts have until April 5 2025, to use their annual tax-free allowance, which shields up to £20,000 of savings in the 2024/25 tax year from tax on interest, capital gains or dividends linked to ISA investments. Last year, investment platform AJ Bell said that [...]
Government could take Abramovich to court over £2bn from Chelsea sale March 7, 2025 The government is reportedly preparing to take former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to court to get their hands on £2bn from the sale of the club. The oligarch previously said that the money from the sale, currently frozen in a bank account, would go to those hit by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But ministers have [...]
Co-op Bank mortgage applications soar following takeover March 7, 2025 Mortgage applications boomed at Coventry Building Society’s new subsidiary, The Co-op Bank, in its first batch of financial results since the acquisition. The bank recorded £116.2m in pre-tax profit for 2024, down from the £120.9m booked in 2023 but in line with company expectations. It said lower mortgage margins and increased savings rates weighed on net interest income, dampening [...]
Oracle: Tech giant passes UK milestone as profit jumps March 7, 2025 US technology giant Oracle has reported sales in the UK of more than £2bn for the first time as its profit jumped by over 20 per cent. Oracle, which in 2023 was the third largest technology company in the world by revenue behind Microsoft and Google, is the title sponsor of the Red Bull F1 [...]
Boots to be taken over by US private equity firm in $10bn deal March 7, 2025 Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the owner of Boots, has agreed to a $10bn (£7.8bn) takeover by a US private equity firm. Sycamore Partners is expected to complete the takeover by the end of the year. The US-listed WBA said of the deal: “[Sycamore’s] experience in retail and consumer services would ensure WBA was better positioned [...]
Drax ‘misled’ government over wood sourcing, ex lobbyist alleges March 7, 2025 Drax’s former public affairs lead has accused the company of “misleading the public, government and its regulator” over its sourcing of wood for biomass pellets. Rowaa Ahmar was employed by Drax in 2022 amid allegations in a BBC Panorama documentary it had sourced wood from environmentally important forests in Canada instead of using sawdust and [...]
Employment reforms “highly damaging” to investment, warns CBI chief March 7, 2025 The government’s proposed reforms to employment law would be “highly damaging” to business investment in the UK, according to CBI president Rupert Soames. Writing in The Times, Soames argued that this week’s U-turns on more controversial aspects of the legislation – from changes to statutory sick pay, to tweaks to protections for agency workers and [...]
Ministers mull GB Energy spending cuts in blow to Ed Miliband March 7, 2025 The government is considering cutting funding for GB Energy in June’s spending review in a major blow to energy secretary Ed Miliband. State-owned GB Energy has been tasked with decarbonising the electricity grid by investing in and operating clean power projects. The government pledged £8.3bn over the course of the current parliament. However, it was [...]
Women lag in GenAI courses despite soaring demand March 7, 2025 Women make up just 31 per cent of generative AI (GenAI) course enrolments in the UK, highlighting a persistent gender divide in one of tech’s fastest-growing fields. According to a new report from Coursera, UK enrolments in GenAI courses surged by 227 per cent over the past year. Yet, female participation remains well below parity, [...]