Environment secretary: Labour’s water revolution will give investors certainty July 22, 2025 Abolishing Ofwat and streamlining water regulation will give the sector the clarity and accountability it needs to attract private investment, says environment secretary Steve Reed Today is the start of a water revolution. When I came into office a year ago, it was immediately clear our water system needed a complete reset. There were high [...]
Peter Shilton’s shirt from Maradona Hand of God to be auctioned July 21, 2025 The shirt worn by England goalkeeper Peter Shilton when Diego Maradona scored his “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup is set to be auctioned for an estimated price of £300,000. The infamous game saw Maradona lift the ball over Shilton using his left hand, putting Argentina ahead in a quarter-final that they [...]
Natwest and Lloyds: What to expect from FTSE 100 bank earnings next week July 21, 2025 The FTSE 100’s banking titans, Natwest, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC are gearing up for what promises to be an interesting half-year reporting season. Lloyds and Natwest will kick off earnings on July 24 and July 25 followed by peers Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered the following week. The first quarter was defined by President Donald Trump’s [...]
Ofwat to be scrapped in sweeping water reforms July 21, 2025 Ofwat is set to be abolished and replaced by a “single, powerful regulator” aimed at cutting water pollution and protecting families from higher bills, the government has revealed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said operations conducted in England by Ofwat will be merged with the Environment Agency, Natural England and [...]
Ofwat to be replaced with ‘new regulator’ amid Thames Water crisis July 18, 2025 Ofwat, the water watchdog, is expected to be abolished and replaced by a new body next week after facing intense scrutiny over sewage firms and the poor performance of major companies including Thames Water, according to reports. A consultation on the creation of a new regulator is expected to be announced next week after results [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: The best summer restaurants in London July 17, 2025 It has been a busy fortnight for the Bluebird brand I oversee as CEO of the Evolv Collection. In our Liverpool Street South Place Hotel, we launched the Bluebird Club, while at Silverstone we entertained drivers, celebrities and musicians with our trackside Bluebird Backstage lounge. And over in Chelsea, we have been the unofficial Wimbledon [...]
Week in Business: Reeves bets on the banks but economy still hurting July 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves set out to charm the City this week, but elsewhere, the economy is reeling from high taxes and low confidence.
Bank of England urged to hold interest rates despite jobs drop July 17, 2025 A leading City forecaster has advised Bank of England policymakers to vote to hold interest rates at its next meeting in August to help battle rising inflation. Robert Wood, UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, warned the Bank of England not to read too much into the drop in jobs numbers, with initial estimates by the [...]
Jaguar Land Rover to axe 500 management jobs July 17, 2025 Jaguar Land Rover is to axe up to 500 management jobs in the UK through a voluntary redundancy programme. The automotive giant said that around 1.5 per cent of its UK workforce would be impacted by the job cuts. A spokesperson for the Tata-owned firm said: “As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax raid leads to thousands of job losses as wage growth cools July 17, 2025 Thousands of jobs were lost in June, official data has shown, putting the Bank of England under greater pressure to deal with the consequences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £20bn tax raid at its next interest rates decision in August. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “softening” in the labour market could force rate-setters to [...]