Mass hallucinations: How I caught a rogue AI reporter August 27, 2025 The ‘customer’ in the fried chicken shop didn’t touch his meal. Instead, he photographed the kitchen door’s keypad and left. ‘Corporate spy,’ muttered the cashier before showing me three identical incidents caught on his security cameras. This is the opening line of a pitch I received from a writer called Joseph Wales, entitled “London’s Fried [...]
My favourite Nasdaq-listed, Chinese-owned, Cayman-incorporated Scottish castle August 22, 2025 A question: what’s the fastest-growing hotel group in Britain? You might opt for Premier Inn, the Whitbred-owned budget chain that’s set to open more than 1,000 new rooms this year. A wildcard choice might be Yotel, the group set up by Yo! Sushi man Simon Woodroffe that’s ballooned from a single site in 2007 to two dozen [...]
Week in Business: Will Reeves Launch a Massive Tax Raid on Property and Pensions? August 21, 2025 Christian May interrupts your holiday with grim news on another punishing round of tax hikes coming in the Autumn.
Audit costs for English councils soar as bankruptcies mount August 19, 2025 Audit costs for English councils have more than tripled, during a time many councils have fallen into bankruptcy or taken on greater debt.
Reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s construction sector August 13, 2025 There are some early signs the UK’s beleaguered construction industry is turning a corner as higher demand, higher government investment and lower interest rates set shovels in the ground. Judging by the numbers so far this year, the UK’s construction industry is in a bad place: The sector contracted at the fastest pace since 2020 [...]
Bellway: Issues with government planning reforms cause delays August 12, 2025 Housebuilder Bellway has said local councils have found it difficult to adapt to the government’s changes to the UK planning system, causing delays in the building process. The government recently announced an overhaul of Britain’s clunky planning system, promising to unleash “seismic change” on the country’s construction process. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has [...]
Forest’s Hounslow e-bike contract win sparks concerns over cash-first tender model July 31, 2025 Hounslow Council awarded one of its two e-bike contracts to the operator which offered them the highest fees despite scoring demonstrably lower than rivals on other metrics, City AM can reveal. The move, which has attracted fury from rival operators, lays bare the competing interests of cash-strapped local authorities as they weigh which criteria to prioritise [...]
Ransomware ban won’t save councils or NHS without urgent cyber investment July 27, 2025 The UK government’s recent ban on ransomware payments by the public sector is a pivotal moment in cybercrime policy. While hailed as a decisive step, experts caution that without parallel investment in resilience, hospitals, councils, and schools remain dangerously exposed. Announced on 22 June, the policy prohibits pay-outs by NHS trusts, local authorities, and other [...]
Fans and athletes both lose in sport’s endless entertainment loop July 24, 2025 New tournaments, expanding global championships, tours of dubious sporting merit and very little rest – isn’t it time we gave our athletes a break, asks Ed Warner? If only the world wasn’t spherical, maybe then we wouldn’t have lost the sporting seasons. As it is, summer bleeds from northern hemisphere to southern, which sends winter [...]
Regulator probes Deloitte over Glencore accounts July 23, 2025 The accountancy regulator announced this morning that it has launched an investigation into Deloitte over audits related to the energy giant Glencore.