Lab-grown diamonds are an inflection point for luxury Opinion Lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined stones and they’re going to disrupt an entire industry, says Nathalie Morrison I spent much of my career in rooms where value was measured in basis points, not brilliance. As the youngest senior client partner at Coutts at 26, I advised clients on wealth management, [...]
Supermarket bosses meet Rachel Reeves amid dire food inflation warning Retail The bosses of some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets met Chancellor Rachel Reeves in emergency cost of living talks on Wednesday, amid warnings that food inflation could rise to double digits this year. Leading supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons attended Downing Street after efforts to gather industry bosses last week were abandoned amid concerns [...]
Reeves summons supermarket bosses again after snub Retail Rachel Reeves has summoned supermarket bosses for a Downing Street meeting on Wednesday after being snubbed last week. The new meeting will be attended by executives at Sainsbury’s and Tesco but bosses at Asda, Aldi and John Lewis will miss out, supposedly due to diary clashes. The Chancellor hastily invited grocery executives to a meeting [...]
Oil on track for biggest weekly jump in 4 years as US mulls intervention March 6, 2026 The oil market is set for its biggest weekly gain in four years after the crisis in the Middle East sent ripples through the energy markets. The price of Brent crude has risen by around 18 per cent in the last week, tipping over $85 a barrel. Should the gains hold up, it would mark [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery amid oil tensions; Khan woos Anthropic AI March 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Inflation fears have dominated the week and as for the time being, they don’t look to be heading anywhere. The FTSE 100 ended Thursday’s session slipping 1.5 per cent to 10,413.94p as markets battled renewed fears of an energy crisis. Brent crude futures – the international [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Airline shares fall after Wizz Air profit warning; Primark new boss March 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Global markets returned to a touch of stability on Wednesday as energy prices retreated as investors awaited the latest on the events in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 ended the day 0.8 per cent higher at 10,567.65p – still far below it’s level at [...]
On this day in 1996: the IRA bombs the Docklands February 9, 2026 30 years ago today, two men were killed in a massive explosion at Canary Wharf – and the IRA proved that you can bomb your way to the negotiating table, writes Eliot Wilson At around 5.00 pm, 30 years ago today, a blue Ford Iveco Cargo truck was parked 80 yards from South Quay DLR [...]
Lumivero Acquires SharpCloud, Empowering Enterprises to Make Smarter, Faster Business Decisions January 16, 2026 Lumivero, a leading provider of research and decision software, today announced the acquisition of SharpCloud, a UK-based software company specializing in visualization software that connects complex, disparate data into a single, interactive system for mission-critical decision-making. The acquisition expands Lumivero’s decision software portfolio, enabling enterprises to drive more efficient, profitable, and innovative outcomes across project [...]
Christmas grocery shopping hits fresh high while Brits make budget trimmings January 7, 2026 Brits splashed out on groceries in the run-up to Christmas but watched their budgets more than ever, as own-brand products and cut-price veg caught the eyes of shoppers. Festive grocery sales increased by 3.8 per cent on the previous year, as Brits spent a record £13.8bn on Christmas supermarket shops amid moderately easing retail inflation [...]
Soaring food costs send shop price inflation higher January 6, 2026 Soaring food costs pushed shop price inflation higher in December, fresh data has revealed, as Brits faced the crunch during the Christmas season. Food inflation reached 3.3 per cent in the final month of 2025, up from three per cent in November, with fresh produce rising to 3.8 per cent from 3.6 per cent previously. [...]