Freedom of the city of London: more than just sheep on London Bridge December 9, 2025 If you mention the Freedom of the City of London, most people picture sheep crossing London Bridge – and yes, that quirky tradition still happens. But the Freedom is far more than a photo opportunity; it’s a living link to the City’s heritage and civic pride. Historical roots and medieval rights Dating back to the [...]
London Museum: inside the £400m cultural development at West Smithfield December 9, 2025 The London Museum is set to open at West Smithfield in 2026. It is one of Europe’s largest cultural developments and is backed by more than £400m in funding from the City of London Corporation and the Mayor of London, of which the City Corporation is contributing £222m. I recently toured the museum and met [...]
Stamp duty holiday first ‘meaningful change’ in a long time, says London Stock Exchange boss December 9, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has welcomed the government’s move to grant a stamp duty holiday to newly-listed entrants, hailing it the first “meaningful change” seen in a long time. Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a three year stamp duty holiday for fresh listings on the London market in her Budget last month. The Treasury’s plans have [...]
Inside London’s occult bookshops December 9, 2025 As I stood outside Watkins Books, the oldest occult bookshop in London, an old man approached me. “Number 23 is the one you want,” he said, pointing down the street. I looked confused. “Murder! A woman stabbed in the basement!” The man, who quickly walked on, was referring to the 1961 murder of Elsie Batten, [...]
London Stock Exchange boss: ‘Media narrative’ behind UK’s capital markets woes December 9, 2025 The boss of the London Stock Exchange has denied there is an issue with the health of the UK’s capital markets, despite London dropping out of the top 20 IPO destinations for the first time in history this year, falling behind Oman and Mexico in the early months. Dame Julia Hoggett complained of unnecessary pessimism [...]
ITA Group Expands Global Event Capabilities With Two European Acquisitions December 9, 2025 Engagement solutions leader acquires C2events in England and Daymakers in the Netherlands, strengthening their ability to deliver locally managed experiences worldwide
Auditor MHA resigns from Sanjeev Gupta-owned engineering firm December 9, 2025 MHA has resigned as auditor for a subsidiary of the beleaguered metals group controlled by tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, City AM can reveal. The London-listed accounting firm has stepped down as auditor of Wolverhampton-based Clydesdale Engineering, an automotive and defence manufacturer owned by Gupta’s Liberty Steel Group, part of his GFG Alliance conglomerate. MHA declined to [...]
Deloitte’s big Christmas quiz 2025 December 9, 2025 The 2025 Deloitte Christmas Economics Quiz by chief economist, Ian Stewart and team The Christmas quiz offers a test of your knowledge of the festive season, economics and politics, in 12 questions. The answers and a brief explanation of the factors at work are provided at the end. 1) Which British politician (past and present) [...]
Bolt targets 100,000 driverless cars by 2035 December 9, 2025 Bolt is accelerating its self-driving mission with a new hardware partnership with Stellantis, it was announced on Tuesday. Together, both firms will deploy 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform within the next decade. Trials are to kick off across European hubs from 2026, placing the mobility platform ahead in the AV race. The deal will [...]
Aqemia to Attend the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2026 December 9, 2025 Aqemia, a drug invention company combining generative AI and quantum-inspired physics, announces it will attend and hold 1×1 meetings at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, taking place at The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco from January 12 to 15, 2026. Aqemia will be represented by Maximilien Levesque, CEO and co-founder, Emmanuelle Martiano, [...]