Losses almost tripled at Sale Sharks owner’s £1bn empire before takeover September 18, 2025 Losses at the empire built up by Simon Orange, the self-made millionaire who co-owns rugby union side Sale Sharks, almost tripled in the year before being taken over. Cheshire-based CorpAcq counts more than 40 businesses as part of its portfolio including the likes of Cotton Traders but does not include the Prem Rugby club. The [...]
Asda-owned Leon cuts hundreds of jobs as work from home trend bites September 17, 2025 Leon has axed hundreds of jobs as it bemoaned a “challenging” year in which it wrestled with high cost inflation and depressed customer spending. The Asda-owned fast-food chain cut its headcount by 17 per cent, or 224, to 1,120 over the course of 2024, its latest accounts show, as it sought to bear down on [...]
Hard truths from Lord Rose and Badenoch the thorn September 10, 2025 Yesterday was a day for hard truths and straight talking. It began with City veteran Lord Rose who said the UK is “at the edge of a crisis.” The former M&S chief and Asda chair said that after working for more than 50 years, and despite a predisposition to optimism, he looks at the state [...]
City veteran Lord Rose: UK is ‘at the edge of a crisis’ September 9, 2025 Lord Stuart Rose has launched a scathing attack on the government’s economic strategy, claiming the UK is “at the edge of a crisis.” The City veteran told Times Radio: “I think we should all be worried about the state of Britain today. “Now, I am absolutely an optimist in my life. I’ve been working for [...]
Business confidence edges up despite tax raid fears August 29, 2025 Business confidence has grown for the fourth consecutive month, according to a fresh survey, despite rising speculation of a fresh tax raid on businesses by the Labour government. Lloyds Bank’s business confidence index edged up two points to 54 per cent in August as sentiment among manufacturers climbed to its highest in a decade. The [...]
Asda boss slams tax hikes: ‘Businesses have to be allowed to invest’ August 28, 2025 Asda chair Allan Leighton has warned that the Government must change the way it thinks about growth or risk a stagnating economy. Ahead of Asda’s quarterly results – where the grocer reported its fourth consecutive quarter of improving like-for-like sales – Leighton said that the company has a “simple philosophy… if you want growth, you [...]
British Retail Consortium appoints its first female chair August 28, 2025 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has appointed Jo Whitfield as its new chair, the first woman in its history to hold the role. Whitfield will replace outgoing chair Andy Higginson, who has been in the position since September 2023. “I’m honoured to be joining the BRC as its first female Chair, and to be supporting [chief executive] [...]
Mark Kleinman: Gupta steeled for high-wire act to end without Liberty August 28, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Gupta steeled for high-wire act to end without Liberty It’s crunch time – again. For Sanjeev Gupta, brushes with insolvency are nothing new. The steel tycoon has turned the process of snatching victory from the jaws of [...]
Royal Mail eCourier drivers launch legal battle over worker rights August 26, 2025 Legal action has been launched against Royal Mail eCourier by drivers claiming they have been unlawfully denied workers’ rights by being classified as self-employed independent contractors. A group of 15 former eCourier drivers, who are members of the IWGB union, are bringing the ‘opt-in’ claim, led by claimant law firm Leigh Day, which has brought [...]
Surging food inflation hits restaurant sales August 19, 2025 Food inflation is accelerating once again, eating into consumers’ pockets and pushing prices higher across the board. Inflation at the grocers hit five per cent in the four weeks ended August 10, down from 5.2 per cent in the previous month but well above the wider UK rate of 3.6 per cent. Real wage growth, [...]