2025: It’s been one hell of a year for UK business Video From political drama to market volatility, cyber attacks, takeovers and trade wars – 2025 has not been plain sailing. January: motor finance and angry farmers We began the year reporting on the exodus from the London stock exchange noting that 2024 had been the quietest year on record for new listings and we suggested that [...]
Flying taxis to slash Heathrow to City trip to 12 minutes Transport and infrastructure Commuting from Heathrow to central London may soon be a thing of the past. Vertical Aerospace, founded by the man behind OVO energy, has unveiled Valo, its next generation aircraft designed for quick, zero emission airport to city travel. While the British electric aviation giant’s shares have seen a 94 per cent decline since its [...]
Rival Heathrow bidder vows to plough on despite proposal snub Transport and infrastructure The hotel billionaire behind a rival bid to develop Heathrow’s third runway has vowed to continue his pursuit to oversee the expansion despite ministers favouring a proposal submitted by the hub’s current owner that involves rerouting the M25. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed on her decision to proceed with the £49bn vision from Heathrow Airport [...]
Eurotunnel ‘pursuing legal process’ with government over business rates November 20, 2025 The firm behind the Channel Tunnel train will pursue legal action against a UK government agency and pull out of all its future investment in Britain unless plans to triple its business rates bill are aborted. Eurotunnel is poised to scrap its multimillion-pound plans to revive a major freight terminal in east London and cancel [...]
Businesses back Heathrow bid to run third runway November 18, 2025 A group of well-known firms has urged ministers to approve the third runway expansion plan tabled by the owner of Heathrow airport, arguing its plan will deliver “the greatest economic benefit to the UK”. In a letter to transport secretary Heidi Alexander, bosses from the likes of Burberry, Caffe Nero and Fortnum and Mason threw [...]
Virgin Atlantic uses Heathrow slots as collateral for $745m Apollo loan November 13, 2025 Virgin Atlantic has borrowed $745m (£564m) from alternatives giant Apollo in a groundbreaking private credit deal that will see the airline use the value of its landing slots at Heathrow as collateral. Virgin said it would use the funds to pay down a legacy debt and make upgrades worth hundreds of millions of pounds to [...]
‘Sower of chaos’ – Russia behind UK cyberattacks, says Cloudflare boss October 30, 2025 The recent spate of cyberattacks that have crippled British firms is largely being carried out by Russia, which used the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza as a “cover story” to deflect attention, the boss of one of the world’s largest cybersecurity firms has said. Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince told City AM that the [...]
Third runway shortlist revealed as ministers push for fast take-off October 22, 2025 The transport secretary has shortlisted two potential operators to oversee the development of Heathrow’s third runway as part of an overhaul of the planning process that she hopes will speed up the megaproject’s delivery. Heidi Alexander told MPs on Wednesday that bids from incumbent operator Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) and the ‘Heathrow West’ proposal from [...]
The government must green light Heathrow’s plan for expansion October 10, 2025 A third runway at Heathrow will be a shot in the arm for growth, and it’s clear that the airport’s own, shovel-ready plan is the only viable one around, says John Dickie With party conference season wrapping up, all eyes are now turning towards the Autumn Budget and how the government can turn its growth [...]
Heathrow passengers hit by second day of disruption after cyber attack September 21, 2025 London Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, is grappling with a second consecutive day of disruption after a cyber attack on a critical airline IT system forced carriers to abandon automated check-in and boarding. The problems began late on Friday when Collins Aerospace, a US-based supplier of airline technology, confirmed its Muse system, which allows multiple [...]