Ditch the ‘usual suspects’: Gov.uk founder urges Labour to look beyond Big Four consultants Consulting Labour has loudly pledged to slash taxpayer spending on external consultants. However, the founder of a City-based digital consultancy firm told City AM that the government still relies on private firms to plug operational gaps because the civil service previously “got rid of the wrong skills”. Ben Terrett, chief executive and founder of Public Digital, said the [...]
Burnham shelves Thames Water administration plans over costs Politics Andy Burnham has paused plans to take public control of Thames Water over fears that it could saddle the taxpayer with a bill running into the billions of pounds. The Prime Minister had been considering putting the struggling utility into a special administration regime (SAR), which would allow the government to take partial control of [...]
Thames Water creditors eye board shake-up if takeover plan succeeds Water The group of creditors vying to take control of Thames Water has said it will appoint the former bosses of Yorkshire Water and BT Openreach to the utility’s board should it succeed in fending off nationalisation by the government. The London & Valley Water (L&VW) consortium, which includes heavyweight investors including Apollo and Elliott, has [...]
Mark Kleinman: Frasers’ touchiness shows importance of Harvey Nicks swoop for Ashley August 21, 2026 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his City AM column. Touched a raw nerve? Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers Group, was forthright in comments to City AM last month when it was put to him that some luxury brands had expressed concerns about Harvey Nichols [...]
Thames Water faces fresh threat to survival after pensions regulation breach August 8, 2026 Thames Water is facing a fresh threat to its survival after breaching pensions regulations, opening up the possibility of a costly probe. The Reading-based business, which could run out of cash as soon as December, missed a statutory deadline at the end of June to value its company pension scheme and is now facing a [...]
Mark Kleinman: Well runs dry for Thames Water creditors July 23, 2026 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his City AM column Well runs dry for Thames Water creditors Are Thames Water’s taps about to run dry? Not literally, of course – but Andy Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street has fired the starting gun on a creditor sprint to [...]
A pragmatic plan for Thames Water July 22, 2026 Public ownership of utilities is a long-held aspiration for Labour’s soft-left, but economic reality dictates it cannot be achieved without derailing the rest of Burnham’s prime ministerial agenda, says Mark Field Andy Burnham’s first priority as Prime Minister must be to stamp his authority over the role – something that’s proved impossible for his five [...]
Tax rises ‘guaranteed’ as Healey faces £22bn black hole from Burnham spending plans July 22, 2026 Chancellor John Healey will be forced to launch another round of major tax rises in the autumn, leading economists have warned, after a City AM analysis found £22bn of spending pledges are not accounted for in official forecasts. Less than 24 hours after becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has already announced plans to end rough [...]
Thames Water creditors offer government ‘golden share’ to fend off nationalisation July 21, 2026 The group of creditors vying to take control of Thames Water has said it is willing to grant the government a “golden share” in the company and offer local governments oversight of its operations as it looks to fend off nationalisation by Andy Burnham. In a statement today, London & Valley Water (L&VW), a group [...]
The water industry needs investment, not confiscation July 21, 2026 Renationalising Thames Water will deter the investment Britain needs to grow, says Lord Johnson Andy Burnham enters Downing Street with lofty, and in many ways admirable, ambitions to generate prosperity in the regions. But his plans will come to naught if he cannot first find economic growth – and the outlook is bleak. The IMF [...]