‘Difficult decisions’ – Burnham looks at new tax on workers to fund social care overhaul July 29, 2026 Andy Burnham has pleaded for opponents to engage in a cross-party discussion over sweeping adult social care reform as he warned that “difficult decisions” would have to be taken to fund the plans. In a press conference from a Jewish care centre in North London, Burnham indicated he wanted social care to be funded on [...]
Smurfit Westrock Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results July 29, 2026 Smurfit Westrock plc (NYSE: SW) today announced the financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. Key Points: Net Sales of $8,031 million Net Income of $88 million, with a Net Income Margin of 1.1% Adjusted EBITDA1 of $1,140 million, with an Adjusted EBITDA Margin1 of 14.2% Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities [...]
Andy Burnham’s technical education reforms are doomed to fail July 29, 2026 Reforming technical education is a laudable ambition but we have been here before. There are three questions Andy Burnham must answer before anyone takes him seriously, says Lord Agnew There is laudable ambition in the Prime Minister’s announcement of technical routes in education from 14, parity with the academic path and employers brought properly into [...]
Oxane Partners Announces Strategic Growth Investment From TA July 29, 2026 Oxane Partners (“Oxane” or “the Company”), a leading technology-driven solutions provider to the private credit industry, today announced a strategic growth investment from TA Associates (“TA”), a leading global private equity firm. This investment will support Oxane’s continued technology innovation, expansion of AI capabilities, and further investment in talent and leadership. This press release features [...]
Cognita Reply Named an OpenAI Advanced Partner to Accelerate Enterprise Adoption of Frontier AI July 29, 2026 Cognita Reply, the Reply Group company specialising in OpenAI technologies, today announced that it has been named an OpenAI Advanced Partner within the OpenAI Partner Network. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260729234340/en/ The OpenAI Partner Network is a global programme for partners to build, sell and deliver AI solutions with [...]
On a roll: Greggs shares soar as it doubles down on aggressive expansion July 29, 2026 Shares in Greggs soared on Wednesday as the bakery chain said it plans to reach at least 3,500 stores in the UK after a jump in profit in the first half of the year. The sausage roll purveyor reported a 20 per cent boost in pre-tax profit to £76m in the six months to June, [...]
Record Interactive Investor inflows drives profit rise at Aberdeen July 29, 2026 A surge in inflows at Interactive Investor helped wealth firm Aberdeen achieve rising profit in the first half of the year. The investment platform signed up tens of thousands of new customers, growing customer numbers by 14 per cent to 525,000 over the period, as the firm won out against rivals in the battle to [...]
ustwo brings AI governance to the boardroom with appointment of Google DeepMind executive Simon Bouton July 29, 2026 ustwo, the global employee-owned B Corp digital product studio, today announced the appointment of Simon Bouton, Chief Experience Officer at Google DeepMind, as its first AI Non-Executive Director. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728923967/en/ Bouton joins the board to provide independent oversight of ustwo’s AI strategy, reflecting the studio’s conviction [...]
Bureau Veritas: Delivering on Our Commitments With Higher Sequential Organic Growth in Q2 and Continuous Margin Improvements July 29, 2026 Bureau Veritas (BOURSE:BVI): H1 2026 key figures1 › Revenue of EUR 3,258.4 million in H1 2026, up 2.1% year-on-year and up 5.0% organically (with a sequential improvement in Q2 2026 at 5.5% organic growth), › Adjusted operating profit of EUR 506.5 million, up 3.1% versus EUR 491.5 million in H1 2025, representing an adjusted operating [...]
For Albarino in the City, head to Humble Grape July 29, 2026 Not satisfied with one isolated national grape day, Albarino (or Alvarinho in Portugal) is about to kick off a week’s worth of celebrations from 1 August. This annual event began in the 1950s in Spain as a wine-tasting competition between local winemakers and was later made official, spreading internationally to highlight what makes this grape [...]