UK defence chief: Adopt AI or lose future wars June 11, 2026 Britain’s most senior military officer has warned that the UK risks losing future conflicts unless it dramatically accelerates the adoption of AI across its armed forces. Speaking at London Tech Week, chief of the defence staff Air Chief Marshall Sir Richard Knighton said AI would be as transformative for warfare as the internet was for [...]
‘Pendulum swung too far’: AIM hit with 222 delistings ahead of nomad changes June 11, 2026 More than two hundred companies have been forced off London’s junior stock market over the last two decades after losing their corporate adviser in a move that has sparked a regulatory pullback by the London Stock Exchange. Some 222 firms on the alternative investment market (AIM) market have de-listed in the last 20 years after [...]
Making the jump to self-employment could damage your pension savings June 11, 2026 Employees making the leap into self-employment could put their retirement at risk, with many unlikely to continue saving into a pension upon leaving auto-enrolment. Roughly one in five self-employed workers save into a private pension, compared with around four in five employees, leaving those working for themselves at greater risk of having insufficient savings upon [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers makes £1.7bn takeover offer for Hugo Boss June 10, 2026 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has moved to tighten its grip on German fashion giant Hugo Boss, tabling a takeover offer in a deal that values the brand at nearly €2bn. The retail empire, which spans Sports Direct and Flannels, already sits as Hugo Boss’s largest investor with a stake north of 25 per cent, and [...]
Reform UK vows to raise VAT threshold to £150,000 June 10, 2026 Reform UK has announced it would raise the VAT threshold for small businesses from £90,000 to £150,000 despite long-running debates over the cost and benefits of reforming the tax. Reform announced on Wednesday it would create a “fair deal for the White Van man” by increasing the VAT registration threshold to £150,000. The party said [...]
Starmer dodges questions on funding for defence spending June 10, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer dodged several questions over funding for an uplift in defence spending as he appeared to suggest that the full defence investment plan will take weeks to be published. Starmer refused to confirm the publication date for a 10-year blueprint on defence spending as he stuck to a commitment that it would be [...]
Government sets out conditions for unlocking ‘trapped capital’ in defined benefit pension schemes June 10, 2026 The government has published a consultation setting out conditions on freeing ‘trapped’ capital from defined benefit pension schemes, in a bid to keep pace with the rapidly changing pension landscape and free up greater amounts of capital. The consultation, published on Wednesday by the Department of Work and Pensions, set out plans to give trustees [...]
For all their charm, digital banks still leave me tearing my hair out June 10, 2026 I admire London’s digital banks. But three events in the past month have made me realise I’m not parting ways with my high street bank any time soon. The first was dodgy transactions that started showing up on my Revolut account. I was being charged for random TfL tube journeys. I had a feeling this [...]
Thames Water eyes return to London Stock Exchange while Pennon back in profit June 10, 2026 There was a stark reminder for the City of the risks and rewards on offer to investors in water utilities on Wednesday, from two of the industry’s biggest names. One of them, Thames Water, is eyeing a return to the London Stock Exchange after a disastrous spell in private hands loaded it with debt and [...]
‘AI is not killing all these jobs’: LinkedIn boss on UK hiring slump June 10, 2026 Hiring in the capital is down 32 per cent from January 2019, a steeper fall than in any other region tracked by LinkedIn, as higher interest rates and corporate cost-cutting weigh on firms that dominate London’s labour market. Across the UK, hiring has slowed by 24 per cent on pre-pandemic levels and 10 per cent [...]