High street giants facing shareholder revolt over low wages March 27, 2025 Investor groups and City giants have teamed up to target high street giants Next, M&S and JD Sports with shareholder resolutions over their low wages. Seven institutional investors managing over £1 trillion in assets have joined the campaign, including Axa, Scottish Widows and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. The campaign is being led by responsible [...]
Mark Kleinman: Monzo chief lands windfall amid listing debate March 27, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week, he tackles a nice payday for the Monzo boss, an unlikely friendship, and the great British export that is the Premier League. Bravery or foolhardiness? Klarna’s decision to press the button on a US initial [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: London’s best dog-friendly restaurants March 26, 2025 Last week Franco Manca announced that they have become ‘dog friendly’. This a welcome turnaround for the restaurant group that turned away a guide dog from one of their venues in 2018. Fortunately, this shameful incident led to my meeting with Dave Kent, the blind gentleman who required his trusty friend Chad to lead him [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Businesses cautious on growth, expect further tax hikes March 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves may have ended her Spring Statement upbeat on long-term prospects after an upgrade from the Office of Budget Responsibility, but businesses don’t seem to be buying it. The Chancellor announced that the OBR had upgraded growth forecasts for the coming years, as she brushed aside the 2025 outlook which was slashed in half. [...]
Some UK visa and passport fees set to double from April March 26, 2025 The above-inflation increases in visa and passport fees announced in the Spring Budget have been described as “deeply disappointing.” Visitors to the UK will face a seven per cent increase for immigration and passport fees, the government has revealed. Companies also face a more than doubling in the cost of bringing in skilled overseas workers, [...]
Spring Statement 2025: City praises potential ISA reforms March 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the Spring Statement that reforms to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are on the horizon, a statement that has been welcomed by the investment industry in the City of London. “The government is looking at options for reforms to Individual Savings Accounts that get the balance right between cash and equities [...]
Law firm Jenner & Block added to Trump’s hit list March 26, 2025 US President Trump continues his war on Big Law as law firm Jenner & Block tagged onto his hit list following a new executive order
Private equity market bullish on resurgence in deals March 26, 2025 Private equity chiefs have become bullish for a surge in deals this year, in a rare piece of good news for the London Stock Exchange. When polled, 79 per cent of private equity general partners said they were expecting returns to rise this year, compared to just 24 per cent in 2024, data from Investec [...]
Farrell draws heavily on Ireland staff for British and Irish Lions coaches March 26, 2025 Andy Farrell has drawn heavily on his Ireland staff after confirming his coaches for the British and Irish Lions’ tour to Australia this summer. Farrell’s Ireland assistant Simon Easterby, attack specialist Andrew Goodman and scrum coach John Fogarty have all been recruited from the Irish set-up, it was confirmed today. They join Aled Walters, Vinny [...]
House prices rise at their fastest in two years March 26, 2025 New data shows that in January, house prices rose rapidly in Northern England and Yorkshire. Average UK house prices increased by 4.9 per cent to £269,000 in the 12 months to January 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This annual growth rate is up from 4.6 per cent in the 12 months [...]