Inside Hackney’s bizarre planning decision on Shoreditch Works February 6, 2026 In the wake of ‘unprecedented’ scenes at Hackney Council’s planning committee, Nicholas Boys Smith asks ‘what next’ for London’s best new development On 4th February one of the country’s best and most popular urban regeneration schemes came into kinetic contact with the Alice Though the Looking-Glass world of Hackney’s planning department and passed into a [...]
Douglas Flint received package from Epstein while at HSBC, files show February 6, 2026 The incoming chair of Prudential received a mystery package from Jeffrey Epstein while he was finance director of HSBC, the recent release of Epstein files shows. Douglas Flint, who had a decades-long career at Europe’s largest bank, culminating as its chairman from 2010-2018, received the parcel in the early 2000s according to records released by [...]
Newly listed Smarter Web Company share price plummets amid Bitcoin fall February 6, 2026 One of the London Stock Exchange’s newest members have suffered a staggering drop in its share price after becoming embroiled in the early morning Bitcoin plunge. The Smarter Web company, which listed on London’s main market just three days ago, suffered a 22.5 per cent drop in early morning trading to 31.25 pence. Since listing [...]
Baby octopus and super strength sausage: the Italian restaurant refusing to bow to trends February 6, 2026 Italian restaurant 2Veneti is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year by doing things the way they always have, says Adam Bloodworth How about a great pile of baby octopi for starters? They’re super soft and super controversial, with many chefs believing the animals should reproduce three times before being eaten, to allow each a long [...]
Exclusive: Lloyd’s of London quietly shelves Blueprint Two to rethink strategy February 6, 2026 After years of delays, Lloyd’s of London’s ambitious strategy to digitalise the marketplace has been shelved, as new management under Patrick Tiernan seeks to rethink the approach. Blueprint Two, launched seven years ago, was a programme pitched as delivering a “profound” change in the London specialist and reinsurance market through digitalisation. Lloyd’s, together with the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Starmer unease rattles markets; Big tech sell-off February 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed a fresh round of market unease as investors dumped the pound, UK equities and long-dated government bonds amid rising political uncertainty. The gulf in price between the UK’s short- and long-term debt – known as the yield curve – reached [...]
City commuter fury as Chancery Lane closed one in six mornings February 6, 2026 Hundreds of thousands of City commuters had their journeys disrupted in 2025 after Chancery Lane tube station was unexpectedly closed for a staggering one in six mornings, City AM can reveal. The Central line station, which sits at the western edge of the Square Mile, was shuttered at short notice during the early hours of [...]
I left London to go back to Venezuela – here’s the brutal, hopeful truth February 5, 2026 Jeanmiguel Uva returned to Caracas after Donald Trump toppled Maduro. He found a patchy recovery and a people yearning to be part of a thriving economy again When my father moved to Venezuela in the 1960s, the country was open to the world. Waves of immigrants, particularly from Italy, Spain and Portugal, followed the oil [...]
Glencore shares slide after Rio Tinto merger unravels February 5, 2026 Shares in Glencore tumbled on Thursday after talks over a blockbuster merger between the firm and rival Rio Tinto came to nothing. The London-listed mining giant said it was unhappy with the terms of Rio’s takeover offer, which included Rio keeping hold of top executive roles within the proposed combined business. “The key terms of [...]
Court ruling tests Britain’s £1bn data centre power plans – and energy policy February 5, 2026 A High Court challenge to a £1bn data centre beside the M25 has exposed a glaring issue for Britain’s ambitious AI build out. Power hungry projects are effectively being approved before anyone is sure where the power will come from. The government has accepted that planning permission for a 90MW hyperscale facility at Iver in [...]