Private equity firm Pollen Street weighs sale September 23, 2026 Private equity firm Pollen Street is weighing a sale and has begun talks with potential suitors, the company confirmed today, in what could be the latest of a wave of takeovers to hit the London Stock Exchange this year. The London-listed investment house, which counts lenders Shawbrook and Bunq among its portfolio, said its board [...]
UK to champion global AI rulebook during G20 presidency September 23, 2026 Andy Burnham has said governments, not tech companies, must make the biggest decisions about AI, as he pledged to put AI regulation at the heart of Britain’s G20 presidency. The Prime Minister used his first address to the United Nations General Assembly to call for a single set of global standards governing frontier AI, including [...]
Ukraine hits out at EU decision to unsanction former Arsenal owner Usmanov September 23, 2026 Ukrainian officials have hit out at a European Union decision to remove former Arsenal co-owner Alisher Usmanov from its sanctions list. The Uzbek-born oligarch, who once owned around a third of the current Premier League champions, was stripped of his sanction status alongside Mikhail Fridman – a prominent Russian financier – after a successful lobbying [...]
Co-op blames job cuts on Labour national insurance raid September 23, 2026 Co-op group has slashed its headcount this year to handle the added costs of Labour’s national insurance raid, its chief executive has revealed, saying the tax hikes had pushed the retailer to invest in more automation. The group, which runs life insurance and funeral businesses as well as its grocery arm, said on Wednesday that [...]
The business case for international aid spending September 23, 2026 UK development spending is good for British business. I know, I've seen it first hand, writes Co-op policy director Paul Gerrard.
Burnham ally Jim O’Neill: Debt costs are ‘increasingly crazy’ and triple lock must go September 23, 2026 The cost to taxpayers of paying off the interest on UK government debt is “increasingly crazy”, according to a top economist who advised Andy Burnham. Lord Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs executive who advised Burnham in his run-up to Downing Street, told LBC that debit interest payments far outweighing the defence budget were “increasingly [...]
UK growth set to slow in 2027, OECD says September 23, 2026 The UK economy will grow slower than expected next year as the effects of a long Iran war drag on activity, the world’s leading economic forecaster has said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy would grow by just one per cent next year, marginally down from a previous [...]
Co-op looks to funeral arm in hunt for turnaround from cyber-attack September 23, 2026 Co-op posted a jump in turnover at its funeral arm, as the member-owned group said it is setting out the foundations to recover from a costly cyber-attack last year. Kate Allum, interim chief executive of the food-to-insurance firm, said the group is facing a “year of two halves” and will see its turnaround plan deliver [...]
Airtel Money confirms plans for multi-billion London IPO September 23, 2026 Airtel Money has confirmed plans for a London IPO in what would mark one of the London Stock Exchange’s biggest flotations in years. The African mobile payments business, which is controlled by Indian-owned telecoms group Airtel Africa, is reportedly seeking a valuation at as high as $9bn (£6.8bn). The fintech, which operates via branches and [...]
JD Sports bemoans ‘tough trading’ as US sales slip September 23, 2026 JD Sports has seen revenue and profit slip so far this year, as weak consumer confidence in its key US market drives a “tough trading environment”. Régis Schultz, chief executive of the so-called ‘King of Trainers’, said on Wednesday that he is “encouraged” by the progress towards his growth plan while admitting that cost-of-living pressures [...]