The ringers keeping the bells swinging in the Square Mile March 18, 2025 As bell ringing faces an uncertain future, Carys Sharkey goes to meet the people keeping the tradition alive in the City One late Thursday afternoon I made my way down from Cheapside, passing the thronging pubs spilling out onto Watling Street amid the chatter and clatter of post-work drinks. I turned onto Garlick Hill to the [...]
Keir Starmer vows to cut costs for business and ‘unleash’ private sector March 17, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to cut costs for businesses and “unleash the power of the private sector” in a bid to deliver economic growth. Writing for City AM the Prime Minister described it as “an outrage” that the government “does not know how much it costs business to comply with the regulations imposed on [...]
Lack of prime Mayfair houses triggers hotel and lettings boom March 17, 2025 Mayfair’s hotel and lettings sector has scooped up luxury clients left adrift by a lack of prime housing in the area, a new survey has found. With new planning restrictions and rising construction costs pushing construction to a ten-year low, wealthy visitors have turned to newly built apartments or hotel suites during their stays, according [...]
Harmony Energy joins wave of investment trust buyouts March 17, 2025 Another investment trust looks set to be taken over by a private equity group amid a steep discount in share prices for UK trusts across the market. Harmony Energy Income Trust has been offered £190.8m by Foresight Group LLP, a private equity and infrastructure investment house, the trust announced today. The deal looks likely to [...]
Reeves to meet regulators as Starmer pledges to cut red tape March 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves will meet with regulators on Monday, as the government sets out to cut the cost of regulation on businesses by a quarter. The Chancellor has summoned eight regulators to Number 11 Downing Street, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Health and Safety Executive. Sir Keir Starmer told City AM in an [...]
RunGP founder Marcel Muenster: ‘Athletics needs more heroes’ March 17, 2025 Mo Farah may have signed up as the face of RunGP, but it was an encounter with another legend of long distance, Eliud Kipchoge, which helped entrepreneur Marcel Muenster formulate the new athletics series. After selling the healthcare business he founded, Doctor In Your Pocket, Muenster indulged his passion for road running by training like [...]
Reeves ramps up pressure on regulators in plan to slash red tape March 17, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has summoned regulators to Downing Street today as part of the government’s plan to slash red tape. At the meeting, Reeves will announce further detail on how the government will be cutting regulations, while setting out plans to slim down or abolish regulators. “Today we are taking further action to free businesses [...]
Select Fashion on verge of collapse as it shuts UK stores – reports March 15, 2025 Retailer Select Fashion is reportedly on the verge of collapse as the struggling chain nears the closure of 35 shops across the UK. The group has drafted in advisers to oversee a process of liquidation, according to documents seen by the Sun. It comes as it is believed the chain will have shut 35 shops [...]
Ukraine peacekeeping plans entering ‘operational phase’, Starmer says March 15, 2025 Planning for a peacekeeping force for Ukraine will move to an “operational phase”, the Prime Minister has said after a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” on Saturday. Sir Keir Starmer said military chiefs would meet in London on Thursday to “put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace [...]
Ministers must get a grip of broken benefits system, Reeves insists March 15, 2025 Rachel Reeves has doubled down on the need to reform the welfare system, insisting the government must “get a grip” on it amid concerns from Labour MPs about the impact of expected cuts to the budget. The benefits system is “broken” and is “not working for anyone”, the Chancellor said. Backbench Labour MPs have made [...]