Firstgroup doubles down on open access expansion despite DfT concerns November 18, 2025 Firstgroup has doubled down on its open access expansion plans as the transport business defied government concerns over the scheme. The FTSE 250 firm said it was “focused on growing” its operations in open access, an arrangement under which private rail operators will continue to run services after the nationalisation of all major routes as [...]
Time to bring back the Great British exit November 18, 2025 Britain has no lack of ideas, founders or ambition but too often our successful start-ups lean on American giants when they exit. This isn’t inevitable, says Carolyn Dawson More than 100 companies are incorporated every hour in this country. British start-ups have raised more than $7bn in investment so far this year alone. Despite the [...]
Investors flee UK stocks as Budget jitters echo Liz Truss fiasco November 18, 2025 Fund managers are ditching UK stocks as the fastest pace since Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng panicked markets with the 2022 mini-budget. Global investors have dramatically reduced their risk to UK equities as the Labour government’s second Budget edges closer, where a hefty batch of tax rises are expected to be on the horizon. Rachel [...]
Football Manager: Losses quadruple after game cancelled November 18, 2025 Losses quadrupled at Sports Interactive after its decision to cancel the release of Football Manager 25, it has been revealed. The London-headquartered video game maker has posted a pre-tax loss of £8.5m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The latest total comes after the business [...]
CEOs say Reeves and Starmer are not doing enough – BGF boss November 18, 2025 Business leaders across the country feel the Labour government “certainly does not appear to be doing enough” to support them, the chief executive of investment giant BGF has said. Speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, Andy Gregory said a recent survey of BGF’s portfolio has revealed views from business leaders [...]
Banks back in Reeves’ tax targets amid Budget whiplash November 18, 2025 Britain’s banking giants are back in the Budget crosshairs as Chancellor Rachel Reeves mulls a tax raid on lenders’ profits. Banks had been expected to be spared from a tax grab in the forthcoming Budget due to Reeves’ inclination to protect the financial services sector, following a concerted lobbying effort by top finance chiefs. But [...]
Rachel Reeves’s caution could prove as damaging as Liz Truss’s recklessness November 18, 2025 Reeves is trying her best to avoid any comparisons to Truss's infamous mini-budget, but her excessive caution could prove just as damaging.
On this day in 1987: 31 killed in King’s Cross fire November 18, 2025 On this day in 1987, a dropped match in King's Cross Station set a wooden escalator ablaze, costing 31 lives. Eliot Wilson looks back.
London’s first all-electric energy centre greenlit in Brent Cross Town November 18, 2025 Planning permission has been granted for London’s first large scale, all-electric energy centre at Brent Cross Town, the capital’s newest park town. The energy centre will provide low carbon heating, hot water and cooling across Brent Cross Town, which has 6,700 homes and over three million square feet of offices, retail and leisure space. “This [...]
PE, mergers, and AI: Professional services faces its most pivotal moment for 20 years November 18, 2025 The professional services industry is arguably going through its most critical time in the last 20 years. As it sits on its train to the future, where it jumps off will seal its fate, as each move firms take will be critical to what the industry may look like in the next 10 years. While [...]