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 [...]
Why is Soho House getting into bed with Formula 1? February 5, 2026 Every piece of furniture at Soho House’s Formula 1 lounge House44 has its own specially designed wooden crate so that it can travel safely internationally. From crushed velvet pillows to leather bartops, one-off rattan seats and bespoke soft lighting, as well as elegant dinner tables with racetrack views, everything is transported from Grand Prix to [...]
Visma hesitation tests London’s IPO revival February 5, 2026 Plans for what would be London’s biggest float in years are being held, as a brutal sell-off in global software stocks forces private equity to rethink. Visma, the €19bn (£16.6bn) software group backed by Hg Capital, may delay a London listing until the second half of the year, after markets turned sharply against the sector. [...]
As we prepare for the Nothing Phone 4, we took the 3 for a spin February 5, 2026 The rumour mill says London-based phone company Nothing is set to release a new handset as early as March. To get you in the mood, we took its current flagship device, the Nothing Phone (3), for a test drive. In 2007, the mobile phone landscape changed forever. When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, he [...]
London Town Clerk: I love the wardrobe – the tights connect me to the City’s heritage February 5, 2026 Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City's great and good. Today, Ian Thomas takes us through being Town Clerk of London.