The UK’s critical minerals wake-up call: why midstream processing is the missing link June 13, 2025 With rising geopolitical tensions and soaring demand for rare earth elements, the UK must invest in midstream critical mineral processing to reduce reliance on China and secure its defence, energy, and technology sectors, says Nitesh Shah I have over 30 years’ experience across commodities, mining and advanced materials –watching as the UK and the West [...]
Spending Review: IFS chief suggests Treasury ‘making up numbers’ over DOGE-style Whitehall cuts June 12, 2025 The Ministry of Defence and Department for Health and Social Care are slated to see billions cut in Whitehall budgets in what a DOGE-style body within the Treasury described as “efficiency gains” – despite both departments set to see a real terms increase in spending between 2026 and 2029. A new government document has revealed [...]
London Tech Week day 4: Why deeptech will define the UK’s economic future June 12, 2025 On day 4 of London Tech Week attention turned to deeptech, writes Russ Shaw In the second half of London Tech Week, the focus shifted from the strengths of London today to the promise of tomorrow. Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Royal Aeronautical Society, which embodies the rich history of British innovation [...]
Alpine A290 GTS review: 2025’s most exciting EV turns up the heat June 12, 2025 The reborn Renault 5 has already won almost every automotive award going in 2025, including the European Car of the Year title. It’s the greatest comeback since Elvis Presley at Burbank Studios in 1968, or Niki Lauda at the Italian Grand Prix in 1976. If the electric Renault is the best thing since sliced baguette, [...]
UK housing market: ‘Not fixed, but less broken’ June 12, 2025 Decades of underinvestment, underbuilding and overegulation have clobbered the housing market. The UK is now short about 4.3m homes, with the worst crisis in cities. Labour, which made solving that crisis a central mission of its first year in government, has made tracks to get Britain building again – reforming planning, trying to bridge the [...]
Council tax spike to pay for Reeves spending plans June 12, 2025 Council tax will rise at the fastest pace in over two decades, fresh analysis has suggested, after a government document said it expected bills to rise to pay for local services. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has pointed to government documents published shortly after the Spending Review ended suggesting Brits will have to pay [...]
Badenoch asks businesses to publicly back Tories June 12, 2025 Kemi Badnoch courted the private sector by promising to reverse tax rises and slating “compliance culture” in an address to the UK’s biggest businesses. The Tory leader invoked the adage that they are the “natural party of business,” while requesting her audience “speak up” in support of pro-business policies. “Put your name to the cause,” the [...]
‘I accidentally locked one of the world’s richest men in a car park’: Symmie Swil on her career at Starling and Upvest June 12, 2025 Working at Starling, meetings with pandas, and accidentally locking one of the richest men in the world in a car park. Upvest's Symmie Swil takes us through her career.
Bob Bob Ricard boss: ‘Champagne is in our DNA’ June 12, 2025 Bob Bob Ricard has become that incredibly rare thing: a London restaurant that hasn’t been forced to close. It has outlasted a financial crash, a pandemic and a cost of living crisis, all because it is very, very good. The dining room is designed to make you feel like you’re careering through Europe on an [...]
Group owned by Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman makes just £3,000 profit June 12, 2025 A fashion brand owned by Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman made a profit of just £3,000 as it returned to the black in 2024, it has been revealed. The company behind Low Profile posted the pre-tax profit after reporting a loss of £2.6m in 2023. New accounts filed with Companies House also show that Suleyman’s [...]