Lucy Rigby back as City minister July 22, 2026 Lucy Rigby has been demoted to City minister after a stint as the chief secretary to the Treasury. Rigby, who previously served in the role under Keir Starmer, was moved from her cabinet role by Burnham and will now return to the dual brief of economic secretary to the Treasury and City minister. The former [...]
Former Lloyd’s chief John Neal breached rules with undisclosed relationship July 22, 2026 Former Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal fell “significantly below” expected standards in his workplace relationship with a colleague, an independent legal review by Freshfields has found. Neal had run the historic London insurance marketplace for over six years when he stepped down last year. He was in line to become president of general [...]
Bad news: Reach share price sinks amid digital headache and falling print sales July 22, 2026 London listed publisher Reach continued to feel the impact of declining online views and lower print circulation, as the company continues to navigate the changing media landscape. The group’s share price sank 19.5 per cent in early trading to 47.4p, bringing the stock down 13.6 per cent since January after the company suffered a sharp [...]
Layoffs and an executive exit: What’s going on at London’s first listed law firm? July 22, 2026 Gateley, the City’s first listed law firm, is set to lose its chief executive and axe dozens of jobs as it grapples with a swelling cost base and fears of a slowdown in client spending. The group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), informed shareholders on Tuesday that chief [...]
A pragmatic plan for Thames Water July 22, 2026 Public ownership of utilities is a long-held aspiration for Labour’s soft-left, but economic reality dictates it cannot be achieved without derailing the rest of Burnham’s prime ministerial agenda, says Mark Field Andy Burnham’s first priority as Prime Minister must be to stamp his authority over the role – something that’s proved impossible for his five [...]
Let the machines do the grunt work, so that we can do the great work July 22, 2026 AI is spectacular at the boring, mundane, repetitive grunt work, data entry, first-pass research, formatting, scheduling and summarising. It can execute those tasks faster and, frankly, better than most of us. Good. Let it. Because the moment you free a talented person from grunt work, they do what machines cannot: build relationships, exercise judgment, tell [...]
‘We are going to run out’: Mitie marks eleventh mega takeover of 2026 July 22, 2026 Mitie’s takeover by rival facilities management group OCS marks the London Stock Exchange’s eleventh £1bn takeover so far this year, as the market continues to serve as a hunting ground for private buyers. OCS agreed to pay 218.5p per share and a final dividend of up to 3.1p. The offer price comes at a 44.7 [...]
Housebuilders urge Rayner to ‘hit the ground running’ and rip up planning red tape July 22, 2026 Housebuilders have called on Angela Rayner to “hit the ground running” and rip up planning red tape after her surprise comeback as housing secretary. Rayner resigned as housing secretary in September over an investigation into her tax affairs but was cleared of wrongdoing in March this year. Leading housebuilding figures told City AM they welcomed [...]
Can the City make friends with Healey? July 22, 2026 For the second time in history, the Labour party has recruited a former defence secretary by the name of Healey to become chancellor. The first, Denis Healey, ended up going cap-in-hand to the IMF for a bailout in 1976 after the UK endured rocketing inflation, soaring borrowing and surging unemployment. So the bar has been [...]
Will Ibai take home a Toast the City Award? July 21, 2026 The Finalists have been announced for our second annual Toast the City Awards and we’re thrilled to highlight some of the runners and riders over the coming weeks. Today we’re celebrating the amazing steak restaurant Ibai, which is one of 12 Finalists in the Best Restaurant category. Here’s what our food critic – and Toast [...]