As it happened: FTSE 100 slides as oil and AI weigh on markets September 15, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Investors were met with a volatile start to the week after rising tensions around oil and AI dampened market mood. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – held above $107 per barrel on Tuesday morning after worries around global supply ramped up on Monday. Saudi [...]
Rocco Forte Hotels’ Russian outpost pays out bumper dividend September 15, 2026 The ring-fenced Russian arm of Rocco Forte Hotels has paid its shareholders a dividend worth more than £3m, despite the luxury hospitality chain being accused of bankrolling Putin’s war machine in Ukraine by maintaining operations in Russia. Astoria Hotel Joint Stock Company – the holding group for Rocco Forte Hotels’ Russian portfolio – distributed £3.2m [...]
Scotch Whisky’s slightly sore head September 15, 2026 In a recent in-depth analysis of the Scotch whisky industry, the FT painted a grim picture of suppressed demand and an ever-rising tide of maturing spirit. Will distilleries and jobs be swept away in another great whisky loch? Tom Bruce-Gardyne believes such talk is way too pessimistic The week-end before last, the FT went big [...]
Europe’s boardroom pay gap with North America narrows amid battle for expertise September 15, 2026 European financial institutions have aggressively closed the transatlantic pay gap at board level, driven by efforts to attract top-tier and specialist talent as boards face into a growing range of complex challenges. An EY analysis of more than 2,000 financial sector directors shows European non-executive remuneration surged 10 per cent in 2025, more than double [...]
Justice minister: legal services must embrace AI September 15, 2026 The economic prize from AI won’t simply go to the countries that develop the most powerful technology. It will go to the countries where businesses have the confidence to use it, invest in it and build around it, says Sarah Sackman I can remember when I started my legal career 20 years ago, we still [...]
Barratt Redrow hopes to defy housebuilding gloom by splashing cash September 15, 2026 As some of London’s listed housebuilders take emergency measures to cut costs amid rising building costs and stagnant demand for homes, one firm is splashing the cash. Barratt Redrow, which will announce its full-year numbers on Wednesday, defied the miserly approach taken by its rivals earlier this summer when it said it will buy back [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers faces shareholder revolt over exec bonus September 15, 2026 Frasers Group, the retail empire owned by Mike Ashley, is facing an investor revolt over a bonus handed to its finance chief for “doing his job”. Two influential shareholder proxies have urged the firm’s investors to slap down its executives’ pay package at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday. The dispute centres around a [...]
Power Probe boss still ‘enjoying the ride’ after stock slump since Aim debut September 15, 2026 The boss of one of Aim’s newest constituents has insisted he is still “enjoying the ride” after the stock’s slump in the months following its London IPO. Power Probe, which is based in North Carolina and develops power tools for car mechanics, debuted on the junior Aim market in December 2025, one of only a [...]
Global city rankings: London shines but appeal ‘hurt’ by cost of housing September 15, 2026 London’s ‘quality of life’ score has been dragged down by a housing affordability crisis as workers spend more as a share of their income on housing than residents of “nearly every city in the world”, a new report has found. The latest Global Cities Index by Oxford Economics found that Londoners’ financial wellbeing was hindered [...]
Healey urged to drop ‘death tax’ holding back family businesses September 14, 2026 John Healey has been urged to drop a so-called “death tax” which business leaders say means family firms are losing out to overseas investors. The Chancellor has been told to unwind sweeping reforms to inheritance tax, made by his predecessor Rachel Reeves, which family businesses say undermine the government’s attempts to drive economic growth through [...]