Profit slashed at billionaire’s asylum accommodation empire November 5, 2025 Profit at one of the Home Office’s providers of asylum accommodation has been slashed in half during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. Clearsprings Ready Homes, which is run by ‘asylum king’ Graham King, has posted a pre-tax profit of £58.7m for the 12 months to 31 January, 2025. That total is down [...]
Vanquis warns of £7m motor finance hit if FCA does not change course November 5, 2025 Vanquis Banking Group has warned it may be forced to hike provisions for the motor finance scandal to £7m if the financial watchdog does not switch lanes on its redress scheme. The specialist lender said it recognised a £3m provision in its third-quarter results, which follows the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) pledging an industry-wide redress [...]
JD Wetherspoon ‘more cautious’ on outlook due to Budget uncertainty November 5, 2025 JD Wetherspoon has said it has become “more cautious in its outlook” as Britain’s best-known pub chain braces for the prospect of further tax hikes at the Budget later this month. The firm, which operates around 800 pubs across the UK, reported a 3.7 per cent rise in like-for-like turnover for the 14 weeks to [...]
Exclusive: Leicester Tigers and DCMS face scrutiny over £6m Covid loan renegotiation November 5, 2025 Leicester Tigers and DCMS are facing questions after they altered the repayment terms of the club’s £6m Covid-19 loan to interest-only until 2028. The change, which only emerged in the Prem Rugby club’s most recent financial accounts, casts further doubt on DCMS’s chances of recouping its £474m lending to sporting and cultural bodies – raising [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Wetherspoons boss’ Budget warning; M&S takes cyber hit November 5, 2025 Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. If you need a clear sign that there is an AI bubble, look no further. American tech stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a hedge fund manager famed for predicting the Global Financial Crisis revealed he had taken out a billion-dollar bet against some of the world’s [...]
Fifa casts net as Budweiser Uefa talks throw World Cup contract into doubt November 5, 2025 Fifa has begun exploratory talks with other alcohol companies as a contingency measure in case long-term partner AB InBev, maker of Budweiser, opts against extending its contract as the world governing body’s official beer supplier after next year’s World Cup. AB InBev’s flagship brand Budweiser has been the official World Cup beer since the 1986 [...]
Do you need to contribute more to your pension? November 5, 2025 The introduction of auto enrolment has drastically changed the retirement outcomes for millions of Brits, increasing private sector employees’ pension contributions. The move, which came into force in 2012, allowed savers who joined the workforce too late to benefit from the gold plated, inflation protected defined benefit schemes to secure a consistent pension stream, without [...]
UK faces ‘urgent crisis’ on workplace sickness, review says November 5, 2025 The UK is facing a “quiet but urgent crisis” on workplace sickness that costs the country around seven per cent of GDP each year, a review by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield has found. The Keep Britain Working Review, an independent report by Mayfield for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and [...]
The Debate: should Britain abolish the monarchy? November 5, 2025 The disgrace of the former Prince Andrew has led some to question whether it’s time Britain abolished the monarchy altogether. Two experts make their cases in this week’s Debate. No: Constitutional monarchy is a shield against instability and tyranny The list of countries which retain a ceremonial constitutional monarchy contains many of the world’s most [...]
On this day: The Gunpowder Plot November 5, 2025 Remember, remember… on this day in 1605 Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament was foiled Today 420 years ago was supposed to see the State Opening of the Parliament for its second session. The 100-day first session had been frustrating and fruitless: a new king from a [...]