Greene King vs Spoons: Who is winning the great British pub battle? May 20, 2025 There are few well-populated areas of the UK where you can’t find either a Greene King or JD Wetherspoon pub. The two titans of the British pubs industry together operate thousands of locations each across the country and are staples of most urban areas. Both are major contributors to the UK economy – providing employment [...]
OBR ridiculed for ‘joke of a salary’ in analyst job offer May 20, 2025 The UK’s fiscal watchdog has been ridiculed for offering a “joke of a salary” after advertising for new roles. The Office for Budget Responsibility is hiring for three new “fiscal analysts” based in London with a salary range of just £38,430-52,000, despite the jobs being graded a “higher executive officer” function within the organisation. The [...]
Saga CEO’s pay nears £2m as losses widen May 20, 2025 The chief executive of Saga, the insurance, travel and financial services giant, took home almost £2m for its latest financial year, it has been revealed. Mike Hazell has received a pay packet of almost £1.9m for the London-listed group’s year to 31 January, 2025, according to its annual report – his first full year in [...]
Diploma: Shares in FTSE 100 firm rocket after profit upgrade May 20, 2025 Shares in FTSE 100 firm Diploma rocketed on Tuesday after the firm upgraded full-year guidance and delivered a strong performance for the first six months of its financial year. In its half-year report, the company, which distributes specialised technical products and services, noted a 14 per cent jump in revenue to £728.5m. Organic revenue growth [...]
Card Factory CEO takes home bumper pay rise May 20, 2025 The chief executive of Card Factory has seen his pay packet jump to more than £1.5m after the company’s sales surged. The West Yorkshire-headquartered retailer has handed Darcy Willson-Rymer the pay rise for its latest financial year, taking home £942,559 in the prior 12 months. The main change to the CEO’s salary was the £531,567 [...]
Tony Matharu, mechanical elephants and the London Sports Festival May 20, 2025 Hotelier and Central London Alliance founder Tony Matharu on why he created the London Sports Festival – and why 2025 will be bigger than ever. For Tony Matharu, it all goes back to a giant mechanical elephant and the power of the spectacle. It was the hotelier and philanthropist’s 2006 patronage of immersive theatre show [...]
Klarna, Zilch, Clearpay: What does the buy now pay later crackdown mean for UK fintech? May 20, 2025 The Treasury’s regulatory shakeup of buy now pay later services is set to reshape the UK fintech landscape and industry leaders have been left with questions. The UK government will enact legislation that brings buy now pay later firms under the scrutiny of the Financial Conduct Authority. This means firms such as Klarna and Clearpay [...]
European leaders talk of war, but I keep getting out of offices May 20, 2025 Europe talks a hard game on defence, so why is the ministry of defence more concerned with horse dentists, asks Michael Martins.
Support for local housebuilding plummets since election May 20, 2025 Brits’ support for housebuilding in their local area has fallen since the general election in a risk to the government’s lofty construction goals, according to new data. Net support has dropped by 11 percentage points, with renters’ backing for new housing near where they live falling by 14 percentage points, according to new research by [...]
Blue collar brain drain to Saudi is harming major infrastructure projects May 20, 2025 An exodus of talent from Britain’s infrastructure sector to the Middle East is harming the delivery of major projects in the UK, according to the head of a key labour supplier. “Certain skills are missing in every level really when you look at it,” the boss of London-listed Hercules, which specialises in supplying labour to [...]