That’s why mums go to adland: Retailers’ big media drive January 15, 2026 With an abundance of information about their customers at their fingertips, some of the UK’s largest retailers are looking and behaving increasingly like media agencies, writes Ali Lyon Having a baby tends to be a highly personal journey. Conscious of the all-important three-month miscarriage cut-off, many wannabe parents will, quite understandably, think painstakingly about who [...]
Oxford Biomedica share prices jumps after takeover talks January 15, 2026 Oxford Biomedica’s share price has rocketed in early morning trading after Swedish private equity firm EQT entered takeover talks for the gene and cell therapy group. Shares jumped 10.65 per cent to 889 pence, with shares rocketing 121.4 per cent over the past year. The FTSE 250 company said it has received an unsolicited approach [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gold surges amid Trump tensions; JLR leads growth rebound January 15, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Rachel Reeves’ report card for 2025 has received another dim review with fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing growth came in at a sluggish 0.1 per cent in the three months to November 2025. This was led by a modest rebound [...]
Fat Cats or Top Dogs? In defence of high CEO pay January 15, 2026 Every year in January the High Pay Centre (they’re “an independent, non-partisan think tank focused on the causes and consequences of economic inequality, with a particular interest in top pay,” since you asked) releases its Fat Cat report, pointing out the day on which a top CEO’s earnings surpass the median UK salary. This year, [...]
Could this be the weirdest London IPO in 2026? January 15, 2026 What do you think the weirdest London IPO of the year could be? Take a moment to think about it. And now, let me tell you why you’re wrong. I have the answer. It’s a firm called Hybrid Air Vehicles, a company that makes airships. Yes, airships. If you thought – as I did – [...]
Defence splurge cannot fund planned expansion, military chief says January 14, 2026 The Labour government’s commitment to increase defence expenditure to 2.5 per cent of GDP from next year will not fully fund the planned expansion of the armed forces, a top military official has warned. Sir RIchard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, told MPs on Monday the rise in government funding would not be enough [...]
Divorced retirees more likely to rely on the state pension January 14, 2026 Thousands more divorcees depend on the state pension compared to those in a marriage as the financial impact of separation continues to ripple into retirement across the UK. Nearly 70 per cent of divorcees rely on the state pension for their main source of income after leaving the workforce, compared to 45 per cent of [...]
Davos: Economic war is the ‘biggest global risk’ January 14, 2026 Trade wars and economic disputes between global powers are the biggest risk to the world over the next two years, business leaders, academics and government officials have said in a report ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting. Nearly a fifth of respondents in a survey (18 per cent) by the World Economic Forum [...]
‘We’re turning the country around’: U-turns put pressure on defiant Starmer January 14, 2026 Keir Starmer attempted to justify a string of policy U-turns on everything from business rates to the mandatory digital ID, claiming the Labour government was “turning the country around”. In an awkward Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, opposition leader Kemi Badenoch grilled Starmer on recent U-turns, which prove tricky for MPs and strategists to explain [...]
Tories call Miliband’s latest offshore wind push ‘a vanity project’ January 14, 2026 Ed Miliband has reaffirmed the UK’s ambitious 2030 clean power goal with the biggest ever expansion of offshore wind farms that could add as much as £1.8bn a year onto households’ energy bills. The government unveiled an auction of offshore energy sites with a total capacity of 8.4 gigawatts, far outstripping analyst estimates and enough [...]