DFS defies wet weather to double profit March 19, 2026 Furniture retailer DFS almost doubled its half-year profit despite recording lower shop footfall as wet weather dampens sales across retail. The London-listed company recorded a £30m profit in the first half of this year, almost double the £16m recorded the year prior, as revenue grew by nine per cent to £548m. The wet weather has [...]
Owner of collapsed lender MFS hit with freezing order March 19, 2026 The owner of a collapsed shadow bank has been hit with a worldwide freezing order after his firm faced fraud allegations. Paresh Raja, founder of Market Financial Solutions (MFS), has been told by courts in London and Dubai to give details of all his assets worth more than £10,000 and cannot spend more than £5,000 [...]
The Capitalist: Reeves lecture, Shoreditch’s flashiest bar and sorry Steve Dinneen! March 19, 2026 Reeves's Mais Lecture, a flashy new toilet design and an apology to our life & style editor; catch up on the latest City shenanigans.
Sun, money and missiles: The dilemma facing British lawyers in the UAE March 19, 2026 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks among the most popular international destinations for British lawyers, to say nothing of influencers, but has the Iranian war burst the bubble? Based on the latest reports from the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for 2025 and early 2026, there are around 500 to 700 English [...]
Bribing firms to hire us is an insult to young workers like me March 19, 2026 The government’s plans to subsidise companies to hire young workers is a sticking plaster over the self-inflicted wound that is youth unemployment, says Oliver Dean Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, recently announced that the government will launch a £1bn scheme to shift young people away from unemployment and welfare and [...]
Alastair Lukies: AI is humanising tech and will positively impact us all March 19, 2026 Fintech pioneer Alastair Lukies takes us through his career, from Monitise to his new AI endeavour, in this week's Square Mile and Me.
Can Reeves’ fiscal devolution plans defeat the Nimbys? March 19, 2026 Rachel Reeves plans to end the paradox of British politics whereby local people bear the costs of growth but rarely feel the benefits. Will it work? Asks John Oxley Rachel Reeves attracts many descriptions, but few would peg her as a revolutionary. Her new plan for the economic landscape of the country might change this. [...]
On This Day in 1831: America’s first recorded bank heist March 19, 2026 It stands as an archetypal heist: a pair of canny, hardened criminals; a simple but daring plan; a dogged law enforcement official and the tantalising mystery of the missing $63,000. The first bank robbery in America recorded in any detail had set the standard for a whole genre, says Eliot Wilson Have you ever wondered [...]
A Requiem for the Boris Bus March 19, 2026 Sadiq Khan’s decision to scrap the iconic ‘New Bus for London’ is about politics not practicalities, writes James Ford London’s fleet of red buses are iconic. Like black taxis, Beefeaters and red post boxes they are a globally recognised visual shorthand for the capital. And, for better or worse, Mayors of London come to be [...]
Gousto founder: Rise of weight-loss jabs ‘a depressing state of affairs’ March 19, 2026 Gousto founder Timo Boldt is on a mission to make the UK’s food system healthier. But in a world of weight-loss jabs – and after a succession of failed government initiatives – Ali Lyon asks whether he is fighting a losing battle. What goes into the most moreish hamburger on earth? Ask the owners of [...]