Midak can prove poignant Derby winner June 3, 2025 BUOYANT after tipping four Sandown winners from four selections in last week’s column, all eyes turn to Saturday’s Derby (3.30pm) as I hope our luck can continue. This year’s renewal of the Epsom Classic looks wide open, certainly more so than the betting suggests. Delacroix is the 11/4 favourite and, credit where it’s due, Aidan [...]
Mazda CX-80 PHEV review: Hybrid SUV does things differently June 3, 2025 If you had contemplated buying a Mazda CX-60 SUV, but wanted to carry seven people, the new CX-80 could be the answer. With an upmarket image, it’s a more affordable challenger to vehicles such as the Land Rover Discovery and Audi Q7. Despite its considerable size, the CX-80 is not the largest SUV made by [...]
Foreign companies drive £19bn M&A surge as UK firms ‘attractively valued’ June 3, 2025 Takeovers of British firms reached the highest level in nearly three years as several multi-billion pound transactions made by foreign companies pushed up the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), official data has shown. Inward M&A deals in the first three months of the year exceeded £19bn, nearly four times that seen in the last [...]
The Menorca country manor that will blow you away June 3, 2025 We’re not short of country estates in the UK, and perhaps for that reason, they’re not something we look for when plotting a Euro vacation. But Vestige Son Vell, a newly established boutique hotel in southwestern Menorca, is a stately home that challenges that instinct. It ticks all the boxes for a week in the [...]
Karate Kid: Legends lumbers over line but there’s no killer blow June 3, 2025 Ten years ago, the idea of reviving The Karate Kid franchise with its original star might have seemed fanciful even for nostalgia-obsessed Hollywood. But in 2017, Netflix series Cobra Kai – which caught up with the characters of the 80s films – proved a cult hit that ran for six seasons, coming to a close [...]
Thames Water: What next after KKR walks? June 3, 2025 Thames Water was dealt a crushing blow this morning after its preferred bidder, the US private equity giant KKR, abruptly withdrew from its pursuit of the embattled utility. The decision leaves the UK’s largest water supplier without a buyer and puts it back on the brink of administration. It follows just a week after it [...]
Interflora owner returns to profit despite sales slip June 3, 2025 The owner of the UK arm of Interflora has returned to the black despite its sales falling during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The Lincolnshire-headquartered business has posted a pre-tax profit of £1.9m for 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The profit comes after the firm behind Interflora’s UK [...]
F1 Arcade: London spot where you pay £100 to taste Formula 1 lifestyle June 3, 2025 With Formula 1’s rapid fandom rise, it was only a matter of time before you paid £100 to watch an F1 race down at your local. Matt Hardy takes a look at F1 Arcade. The seemingly sudden rise in Formula 1 interest among non-petrol heads has been nothing short of astonishing. In its 75th year [...]
Starmer’s defence pledges will trigger a tax bombshell June 3, 2025 Here’s a cracker of a pub quiz question for you: what links mega-rich non-doms, nuclear-powered submarines, congestion in Wigan and the Bank of England’s former chief economist? The answer, as so often appears to be the case, is tax. On the day that Keir Starmer unveiled a Strategic Defence Review that calls for nearly £70bn [...]
Monzo: The rockstar fintech setting the City abuzz June 3, 2025 Monzo has dominated City chatter in recent months with its hotly anticipated IPO, and now the fintech unicorn’s latest financial results indicate the talk is only going to get louder. The UK fintech veteran broke another milestone in the last 12 months after topping £1bn in annual revenue. Behind the surge in takings was a [...]