Why top law firms are betting big on virtual reality training | What’s the Context? March 4, 2025 City AM's legal reporter Maria Ward-Brennan visits the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to try out the virtual reality tools they are testing to train their lawyers.
The 13 skyscrapers set to redefine the City of London’s skyline March 4, 2025 The City of London Corporation has released new images visualising how the Square Mile’s skyline will look.
Reach: Daily Mirror and Express owner beats profit forecasts March 4, 2025 Reach, the owner of the Daily Mirror and the Express, beat annual profit forecasts on Tuesday as its efforts to cost cuts began to pay off. Operating profit increased six per cent to £102.3m, exceeding analysts’ forecasts of £97.4m. Earnings per share jumped 16 per cent to 25.3p even as revenue declined 5.3 per cent [...]
Beazley records record profit despite wildfire losses March 4, 2025 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley has reported a record profit before tax of $1.4bn (£1.1bn) for 2024, a 13 per cent increase from the previous year. The specialist insurer also announced a $500m (£394m) share buyback programme alongside a 76 per cent rise in its ordinary dividend to 25p per share. Gross insurance written premiums [...]
Will western brands return to pariah state Russia? March 4, 2025 It was the sight that heralded a new geopolitical era. Hundreds of Russian punters standing in a disorderly queue and braving the bitter Moscow air to sample their first bite of the latest big import from America. The iron curtain – having been chipped away slowly for years – had fully fallen just two months [...]
Lower retail prices drive shops into deflation March 4, 2025 Prices in UK shops continued to fall in February, as discounting in retail offset high grocery prices. Shop prices fell by 0.7 per cent year on year in February against a decline of 0.7 per cent in January, driven by a 2.1 per cent drop in retail prices. “Discounting is still widespread in fashion as [...]
A win on the world stage masks mounting trouble at home March 4, 2025 Keir Starmer has won plaudits for his decision to increase defence spending (albeit by less than the amount he’s given Ed Miliband to run a pretend energy company) and voters appear to be firmly behind the PM’s decision to fund this modest splurge by raiding the international development budget. The latest City AM Freshwater Strategy [...]
Government urged to back manufacturers’ growth ambitions March 4, 2025 The Government has been urged to back small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers’ growth ambitions after fresh data showed it could give the economy an £83bn boost. Make UK and Citivas’ new report proposes that if SME manufacturers hit their targets the UK’s manufacturing sector would boom to 7th in the world. It currently stands at [...]
Six Nations investors CVC bids $1bn for major tennis competitions March 3, 2025 Private equity giant CVC Capital Partners are set to bid for a portfolio of high-profile tennis events worth £790m that includes the Madrid and Miami Opens. It could see the Six Nations investor add to its existing tennis interests, which include a commercial joint venture with the WTA launched in 2023. The portfolio – currently [...]
Bosses fear workers’ rights overhaul more than National Insurance hike March 3, 2025 Employers are more worried about the government’s upcoming reforms to workers’ rights than the widely condemned National Insurance rises announced in the October Budget, a fresh poll has revealed. More than a third (34 per cent) of bosses cited the far-reaching overhaul to employment rights as the biggest challenge facing their organisation in 2025 despite [...]