HS2 contracts may be twice as costly as first thought, says new boss July 9, 2025 The contracts for HS2 may run to more than double their initial projected cost, the troubled project’s new chief executive has warned ahead of crunch talks this autumn. Mark Wild, who was brought in to reset the high-speed line last year, told MPs the contracts would finish “considerably over budget,” with a likely overspend of [...]
Rachel Reeves urged to rip up ring-fencing in banking growth push July 7, 2025 Rachel Reeves is facing renewed pressure to scrap the ring-fencing regime imposed on British banking giants in a bid to bolster the sector’s international competitiveness and bolster economic growth. The Chancellor has been lobbied by top banking chiefs to ditch the “redundant” 15-year-old legislation, which requires major banks to separate their retail banking operations from [...]
Cuts, struggles and breakups: How is AI reshaping the consultancy sector? July 2, 2025 Amidst the job cuts at Big Four, crisis mode is rearing at consultancy firms as the industry struggles to keep up with the AI world
Big Four: US fines Deloitte, PwC and EY over exam cheating June 26, 2025 The US accountancy regulator has fined the Dutch arms of Deloitte, PwC, and EY $8.5m over 'widespread exam misconduct'.
Big Four slash graduate jobs as AI takes on entry level work June 23, 2025 The UK’s Big Four accountancy firms are cutting hundreds of jobs and pulling back sharply on graduate recruitment, as artificial intelligence (AI) begins replacing the junior roles once filled by school and university graduates. Deloitte, EY, KMPG and PwC – which cumulatively employ around 100,000 people across the UK – have all stripped back early-career [...]
HS2: Can it be pulled back from the brink? June 18, 2025 For anyone who has followed the debacle surrounding HS2, the transport secretary’s scathing verdict on Wednesday will come as no surprise. The “appalling mess” of HS2, as Heidi Alexander put it, means there is “no route” to delivering the scheme on time and on budget. Shock. HS2’s costs were already known to have exceeded more [...]
HS2: Transport secretary confirms two-year delay after ‘shambolic mess’ June 18, 2025 Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed that HS2 will be delayed by at least two years, slamming previous handling of the project as an “appalling” and “shambolic mess”. The embattled high-speed rail link will be pushed back beyond 2033 following a “litany of failures” outlined in two reports by HS2 boss Mark Wild and KPMG’s [...]
KPMG: The real AI bottleneck isn’t tech, it’s humans June 12, 2025 The challenge with AI is no longer about whether the tech works, but whether the people and processes around it are ready, claimed business and tech leaders at KPMG’s panel at Viva Tech Paris. “We see the potential”, said Nicole Buttner, chief executive of Melantec and general secretary of Germany’s MPP party. “But it’s like [...]
Week in Business: Is Rachel Reeves About to Drop a Tax Bombshell on the UK Economy? June 12, 2025 Despite talk of growth and renewal, the economic warning lights are flashing, and experts now predict another £20bn tax raid.
Economists warn Rachel Reeves could be forced to make ‘£20bn tax grab’ June 11, 2025 Top economists have warned Brits to brace for another wave of painful tax hikes in the autumn after Rachel Reeves unveiled the government’s £190bn spending splurge. After unveiling her Spending Review, which laid out extra spending on the NHS, defence, housing and nuclear energy, the Chancellor told MPs she was committed to ensuring public finances [...]