William Hill could close 200 betting shops as gambling industry faces mounting tax pressure October 12, 2025 William Hill is eyeing shutting 200 of its UK betting shops as parent company Evoke looks to steady its heavily indebted balance sheet ahead of a potential tax raid in next month’s budget. The move comes as the Gambling Commission and Treasury consider tougher rules and levies for the gambling sector, which has already been [...]
Google could be forced to change search in the UK October 10, 2025 Google may be forced to make changes to how its search engine operates in the UK after the competition watchdog granted it ‘strategic market status’ under the country’s new digital markets regime. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the designation on Friday, giving it new powers to impose rules on Google’s search and advertising [...]
Ticketmaster forced to change sales practices after Oasis ticket row September 25, 2025 Ticketmaster has been forced to introduce new transparency measures following a probe into the way it sold tickets for Oasis’s highly anticipated reunion tour. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the ticketing giant will now have to give fans clearer information about prices and ticket types, following widespread complaints during last year’s ‘Live ’25’ [...]
Competition is key to turning British scale-ups into global firms September 10, 2025 As other countries reap the benefits of home-grown UK talent, the CMA is committed to cracking the UK's scale-up challenge, writes Sarah Cardell.
Aviva’s profit soars ahead of merger with Direct Line August 14, 2025 Aviva posted a profit jump for the first half of the year after strong growth across its wealth and insurance divisions. The company’s operating profit climbed 22 per cent to just north of £1bn – topping the £875m netted in the first half of 2024. This comes after Aviva completed its £3.7bn takeover of rival [...]
After the shake-up, is the CMA still a watchdog with teeth? August 14, 2025 Those of us who have regulators' email alerts switched on were familiar with the CMA as an active regulator, but that didn't align with the Labour government's agenda.
CMA’s Google crackdown will put the UK’s AI revolution on hold August 13, 2025 The heavy hand of the CMA, on Google and tech companies it barely understands, will stop the UK from capitalising on AI, writes Matthew Lesh.
KKR pushes for Assura to ditch PHP deal amid bidding war August 8, 2025 The bidding war between private equity giant KKR and retail investor Primary Health Properties (PHP) has heated up after KKR pushed for Assura to ditch an already recommended takeover offer from the latter. KKR’s investment vehicle Bidco – which is also by fellow US private equity Stonepeak – said on Friday it has held discussions [...]
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 [...]
Breadmakers Hovis and Kingsmill butter up £75m merger July 26, 2025 Bread producers Hovis and Kingsmill are set for a historic merger with their owners expected to ink an agreement after months of discussion. Kingsmill, whose immediate parent Allied Bakeries is owned by London-listed Associated British Foods (ABF), and Hovis could benefit from up to £50m of annual cost savings from a merger. The proposed agreement, [...]