Performance, not privilege, should determine success in financial services October 22, 2025 Financial services leadership is still too dominated by a privileged few, says for Lord Mayor Vincent Keaveny When I served as Lord Mayor of London, I often heard the City described as a meritocracy. Yet, behind the polished façades and success stories, I saw the hidden barriers that still shape who truly gets ahead. That [...]
Allica Bank makes major acquisition as it eyes £1bn SME lending goal October 22, 2025 Allica Bank is set to announce a fresh acquisition as the firm looks to beef up its lending capacity for small businesses, City AM can reveal. The digital bank has snapped up London-based fintech Kriya, which specialises in embedded finance and business loans. The takeover, set to be announced on Wednesday, marks Allica’s third acquisition [...]
Autumn Budget: JCB boss calls on Reeves not to do anything ‘daft’ October 22, 2025 The chief executive of JCB has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves not to do anything “daft” in her Autumn Budget which would deter inward investment. Graeme Macdonald, who leads the Staffordshire-headquartered manufacturing giant under chairman Lord Anthony Bamford, said he’s “not optimistic” about the Budget next month, adding that Reeves is “definitely” going to raise [...]
How sport can take tackle Gen Z’s problem with gender polarisation October 21, 2025 Gender is as becoming as divisive as race, politics and economics among but sport can play its part in fixing a growing problem among Gen Z, writes Matt Readman. It’s been 25 years since Nelson Mandela famously said that sport could “unite people in a way that little else does”. While sport has sometimes mirrored social [...]
FCA to take control of anti-money laundering supervision of professional service firms in major reform October 21, 2025 The government’s reform of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision will significantly change and diminish the roles of the legal regulator and HMRC. Today, the Treasury revealed the outcome of its consultation on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision, primarily for professional services, by creating a Single Professional Services Supervisor (SPSS), with the Financial [...]
UK Athletics posts profit for first time since 2017 October 21, 2025 UK Athletics has hailed a financial turnaround after going from a deficit of £1.2m to a surplus of £107,000 – its first since 2017. The accounts for the year to March 31 2025 saw losses slashed just three years after the track and field governing body appeared to be on the brink of bankruptcy. UK [...]
Aston Martin DBX S review: Our favourite luxury SUV October 21, 2025 When Aston Martin introduced the DBX707 in 2022, it expected this faster, more expensive model to account for 50 percent of DBX sales. Instead, fully 90 percent of customers plumped for the 707hp newcomer, and the original 550hp DBX was discontinued soon afterwards. The message was clear: Aston Martin buyers wanted more performance and they [...]
Rolls-Royce Corniche Shooting Brake review: Estate of the art October 21, 2025 Niels van Roij looks every inch the English gentleman. The Dutch-born designer is wearing an immaculately cut tweed suit with leather-lined pockets, topped off with a green woolen tie. Only later do I realise that identical fabrics were used to trim the Rolls-Royce waiting outside. “I have a suit created to celebrate each car, using [...]
AI slop is a feature, not a bug, and your brand is the next casualty October 21, 2025 Brands that succeed in the age of AI will be those that make trust an operating system, says Paul Armstrong Google, Meta, OpenAI, LinkedIn, TikTok and the rest of the attention cartel are not drowning in AI slop by mistake, they’re selling the lifeboats. The only way out (to be seen) is to buy ads. [...]
Top Aussie pension funds wooed by Labour amid investment drive October 21, 2025 Some of Australia’s largest pension funds are being courted by the Labour government amid a rush to attract higher investment in the UK. Ahead of a summit in Birmingham, Australia’s largest pension fund AustralianSuper said it was still investing an extra £7bn UK assets over the next five years, a move praised by the government [...]