Economists may have ignored the biggest reason for our productivity decline September 16, 2026 Productivity in the West has slowed dramatically since the late 2000s, but there is no consensus as to why.
Unions at loggerheads over party funding cap after blockbuster Reform donation September 16, 2026 Trade unions have taken aim at “stratospheric” donations and the flow of “dark money into UK politics” after Reform revealed it had pocketed a staggering £72m from just two supporters. The Trade Union Congress (TUC), which groups together some of the largest British unions, stopped short of calling for an outright cap on individual donations [...]
Bank of England under pressure to raise interest rates or risk ‘losing credibility’ September 16, 2026 The Bank of England is facing mounting pressure to raise interest rates on Thursday amid a global bond market rout fuelled by concerns over runaway government borrowing and sticky inflation. Investors told Threadneedle Street it was “essential” to rein in prices before the energy shock triggered by the Iran war spreads through the economy and [...]
Can cautious Wolfson keep stunning Next shareholders? September 16, 2026 Lord Simon Wolfson has become a shareholder darling over his 25 years in charge of Next. Felix Armstrong asks whether he can keep on surprising them. Few companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are more bound up with the personality of their chief executives than Next. Lord Simon Wolfson, the long-time boss of the [...]
Government plots university spinout crackdown September 16, 2026 The government is plotting to clamp down on the number university spinouts that shift their operations abroad or float overseas, the boss of the body responsible for research investment has said, in a move likely to spark unrest among founders and the venture capital industry. Sir Ian Chapman, the chief executive of UK Research and [...]
Motorway eyes first profit as Premier League deal grows customer base September 16, 2026 Motorway is on the cusp of turning its first profit a decade after launch, as the used car marketplace looks to the Premier League to expand its customer base. The tech firm’s co-founder and chief executive, Tom Leathes, said he expects to hit profitability as soon as 2026 after years of consecutive eight-figure losses as [...]
European financial centres lose global standing amid ‘relentless pivot to Asia’ September 16, 2026 European financial centres suffered a decline in global rankings as the continent continued to lose ground to fast-growing Asian cities. Centres across Europe saw their prominence erode, with several key cities tumbling in the latest rankings from Z/Yen’s 40th Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40). European cities fell out of top 20, after only four [...]
Ask the expert: I lost my job at 56. Can I retire? September 16, 2026 Lost your job in your 50s? Marianna Hunt is back to take a look into whether retiring early, cutting spending or returning to the workplace is the best option when thrust back into the job market later in life. I’m 56 and lost my job in January after a successful career in financial services. I’d [...]
AI firms double London office space as tech boom fuels property demand September 16, 2026 AI firms snapped up more than 700,000 sq ft of London office space in the first half of 2026, more than double the amount taken across the whole of last year as fast-growing tech companies expand their footprint in the capital. AI businesses accounted for as much as a third of central London office take-up [...]
Palantir’s NHS platform expands into GP patient data sharing September 15, 2026 Patient data from five GP surgeries in England is being fed into the NHS’s Palantir-built data platform, pushing the US firm’s reach beyond its initial remit of hospital operations into local surgeries. NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, one of England’s largest Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), is overseeing the move onto Palantir’s Federated Data Platform (FDP). An [...]