Forest’s Hounslow e-bike contract win sparks concerns over cash-first tender model July 31, 2025 Hounslow Council awarded one of its two e-bike contracts to the operator which offered them the highest fees despite scoring demonstrably lower than rivals on other metrics, City AM can reveal. The move, which has attracted fury from rival operators, lays bare the competing interests of cash-strapped local authorities as they weigh which criteria to prioritise [...]
Inheritance tax nets record £6.7bn before Budget raid July 31, 2025 The Exchequer raked in a record £6.7bn in inheritance tax between 2022 and 2023, as a longstanding freeze on the tax-free threshold and ballooning asset prices meant more estates were sucked in to paying the unpopular levy. The overall earnings from inheritance tax rose by over £700m in the tax year 2022/3, official data showed, [...]
Chloe Kelly and the Lionesses are marketing gold. Brands take note July 31, 2025 In a world gripped by political instability and economic uncertainty, the Lionesses offer something powerful: focus, momentum, and cultural relevance. Sunday’s nail-biting Euro 2025 win wasn’t just a sporting triumph. It was a commercial line in the sand. The Lionesses aren’t a moment – they’re a movement. And for brands, the message is clear: the [...]
Klarna to revive New York IPO attempt as soon as September July 31, 2025 Swedish fintech Klarna is gearing up for a second swing at a public listing in New York after original plans were derailed by the market meltdown following President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught. The buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant is aiming to launch on the US stock market in September or October if market conditions [...]
Big tech hits back as CMA flags ‘harmful” cloud dominance by Microsoft and AWS July 31, 2025 Big Tech companies have pushed back against a damning report from the UK’s competition watchdog, which warned that Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance in the £10.5bn cloud computing market is stifling competition and harming UK businesses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday published the final findings of its 21-month cloud investigation, concluding that Microsoft [...]
Another blow to London as Just Group goes to Canadian manager July 31, 2025 The London Stock Exchange lost yet another constituent to foreign ownership on Thursday, after pension insurer Just Group agreed a bumper takeover deal from Canadian asset manager Brookfield Wealth Solutions (BWS). The FTSE 250 firm’s board told markets it had accepted a £2.4bn offer from the North American company in a deal valuing the firm [...]
Investors put off by complicated wealth management tools July 31, 2025 Half of people who want help investing, feel “dissatisfied” with traditional wealth management tools, believing them to be too expensive or complex, a new survey has found. Two thirds of UK investors believe not enough people invest due to being unable to use complicated wealth management tools, according to research from wealth management platform Stratiphy. [...]
Rachel Reeves could use bank windfall tax to plug Labour’s U-turns July 31, 2025 Rachel Reeves could launch a fresh tax grab on banks to plug the spending holes left by Labour’s recent U-turns, new analysis has found. The Chancellor is poised to hike taxes in the Autumn Budget after a series of government policy switches eroded her already wafer-thin fiscal headroom of £9.9bn. This comes as fresh research [...]
Investors continue to opt for gold driving global demand July 31, 2025 Global demand for gold shows no sign of slowing down as investors and central banks continue to hoover up the safe haven asset. The precious metal rallied over the first half of the year, recording a 26 per cent rise against the dollar and outperforming almost all other major asset classes, according to the latest [...]
Meet the 60-year-old jockey riding at Glorious Goodwood July 31, 2025 At the age of 60, Entain’s chief marketing officer Charlotte Emery is making a high-profile horse racing debut today at Glorious Goodwood. She has spent the last few months preparing for the race, all while recovering from a serious injury she suffered late last year. Charlotte is the oldest rider in the Magnolia Cup, Goodwood’s [...]