World Rugby Nations Championship silence is deafening but predictable October 31, 2025 The World Rugby Nations Championship starts next year after the last ever autumn internationals campaign this year. Or does it? This is the last ever autumn rugby union series, not that you’d have any idea. Gone will be the days of friendly matches on chilly November evenings and in will come games with a trophy [...]
Motor finance, Madoff fraud, tax fears – bank shares defy the noise October 31, 2025 A motor finance battle, hefty impairment charges and the shadow of 2008 all cast over banks third-quarter results but beneath the fog investors are rewarding the FTSE 100’s top lenders for another bumper quarter. The FTSE 350 banks index has risen nearly four per cent this month and is up 17 per cent for the [...]
Roll-on the World Cup! Spain’s young guns sign deal with Old Spice October 30, 2025 Not so long ago Old Spice was a punchline; a brand associated with a bygone era and reliant on an ageing – not to say, perishing – demographic. More recently it has tried to shake off this stuffy image, leaning into sports such as the NFL. This week made perhaps its most intriguing move yet: [...]
The Capitalist: City AM, sexing up the Budget since 2005 October 30, 2025 INSIDE OUR INAUGURAL SQUARE MILE AWARDSThe Square Mile gathered in force last week to celebrate… the Square Mile. It was our inaugural Toast the City Awards, and gongs were handed out to the City’s best restaurant, bar, green space, rooftop and much more. However, Piccolo Bar, the winners of the best sandwich accolade, weren’t to [...]
Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation? October 30, 2025 For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK [...]
Big Tech earnings: Investors reward AI returns, punish spending spree October 30, 2025 Wall Street was shaken up by Silicon Valley heavyweights overnight as a trio of Big Techs laid bare the cost of their AI strategies. Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft all reported earnings after the bell on Wednesday, offering investors a glimpse into the now trillion-dollar race to lead the AI boom. But, while Alphabet, Google’s parent [...]
Abu Dhabi sets sights New York, London and Singapore October 30, 2025 Over the last decade, Abu Dhabi has attracted more than 300 financial firms, with a combined $28.6 trillion in assets globally, as the city positions itself as a global “capital of capital.” ADGM, Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre, revealed it has experienced rapid growth from financial firms over the last three years, increasing from 131 [...]
The Line of Beauty at the Almeida review: Horny and exceedingly fabulous October 30, 2025 The Line of Beauty at the Almeida review and star rating: ★★★★ Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty is considered alongside The Normal Heart and Angels in America to be one of the seminal queer texts confronting the AIDS pandemic. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2004 but is more interested in queer hedonism [...]
UK public uneasy about self-driving vehicles ahead of Waymo launch October 30, 2025 Ahead of Waymo’s arrival on British roads, a new report reveals that nearly three-quarters of people in the UK are concerned about the safety of self-driving vehicles. According to insurer Allianz, across six regions, more than 70 per cent of Brits said they had concerns about this emerging technology, compared to between 64 per cent [...]
Football M&A shake-up as investors swap mega-deals for lower league takeovers October 30, 2025 Football’s M&A market has seen a drop in mega-deals as investors have turned their attention to lower leagues, expanding multi-club networks and strategic minority acquisitions. A new report by independent consultancy Football Benchmark said its analysis of the 76 deals to take place so far this year reflected “a maturing market”. While recent years have [...]