E.coli, sewage and leaks: Water firms must get their sh*t together March 28, 2024 Few people want to be thrown into the River Thames, bar perhaps two – the winning coxes of the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. It has been tradition for the very vocal brains of the operation for the winning boat to be hoyed unceremoniously into the water. Except this year, charities have urged whoever wins to remain [...]
The advantaged BBC is squeezing local news out of the media landscape March 27, 2024 ‘Today, I want to talk about us.’ Never has the start to a speech revealed as much as Tim Davie’s yesterday, as the director general of the BBC laid out a plan for the future of Auntie. And, unknowingly perhaps, the future of commercial media. Take a step back. As a newspaper which believes in [...]
China’s cyber-attacks are democratic threat and business opportunity March 26, 2024 How you doing, my old China? That was certainly the tone of the UK’s attitude towards Sino-British relations when the current foreign secretary, David Cameron, was Prime Minister. He even took a confused-looking Xi Jinping for a pint in the Cotswolds. As yesterday’s parliamentary announcements made clear, things have changed. China’s cyber attack on the [...]
The Monetary Policy Committee can fight rate setting unease with greater coherence March 21, 2024 Andrew Bailey did not have a lot of luck when he came to the table as the new Governor of the Bank of England, stepping into the job about the same time as a flu-like virus from a Chinese city nobody had heard of arrived at Heathrow. He has since played a bad hand badly, [...]
At the heart of the listing drought is a cultural lack of risk appetite March 19, 2024 Another day, another complaint? It can feel that way when you regularly study the utterings of London-listed bosses. Yesterday, though, came a less common refrain: from Andrew Carnie, whose Soho House is, ironically enough, listed on the other side of the pond. His premise – that the state of the markets and disclosure requirements made [...]
The best way to bring house prices down is to get building March 18, 2024 Crash? What crash? A much-feared slowdown in house prices – due to hit last year – appears to have been more of a speed bump than a full snarl-up, with all the indicators now pointing green once again. That is of course good news for homeowners and will bail a few out of negative equity. [...]
This incompetent handling of a media storm is a bad look for the Tories March 14, 2024 Distracted as they are from governing, the Conservatives have got themselves into yet another unholy mess over their now “controversial” donor Frank Hester. A story that should have been over in the space of a news cycle has now dragged on for days thanks to a strange combination of bad media management and an unwillingness [...]
A trade deal with Texas: The UK can learn from the Lone Star State March 13, 2024 There are three ways to look at the trade “co-operation” agreement which will be signed today between the UK and the great state of Texas. The first is as a largely pointless press release, a damning indictment of pre-Brexit promises of an all-singing, all-dancing trade deal with the entire United States, not just a particularly [...]
It’s now up to the City and the regulator to keep a close eye on crypto mania March 12, 2024 Much like watching somebody stand too close to the edge of a rooftop can bring on the heebie-jeebies, the City’s institutions giving a guarded welcome to more crypto-backed vehicles can also leave an observer a little nervy. It is not that long ago that we were in the ‘crypto winter,’ watching token prices crash and [...]
The Budget shows signs that the election won’t be complete procession March 7, 2024 Well, it wasn’t overly dramatic, but it wasn’t bad either. Reading between the lines in yesterday’s Budget however does give some cause for optimism that the election will not be a complete procession – and regardless whether you’re one of the three remaining people in Britain planning to vote Conservative or a dyed in the [...]