Highest profit in over a decade for London St Pancras Highspeed August 4, 2025 London St Pancras Highspeed, the company which runs the rail line between the capital and the Channel Tunnel, has reported its biggest profit for more than a decade. The business has achieved a pre-tax profit of £136.6m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The total is [...]
On this day: Gibraltar is captured by the British August 4, 2025 On this day in 1704, Gibraltar was surrendered to the Anglo-Dutch fleet. 321 years later, Eliot Wilson looks at what that means today.
Bank of England to cut interest rates but faces dilemma on outlook August 4, 2025 The Bank of England is unlikely to signal faster interest rate cuts at this Thursday’s meeting, leading economists have said, leaving the future of monetary policy in the balance. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members are widely expected to agree to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to four per cent. But City analysts have [...]
McDonald’s sheds 2,000 UK jobs as profit almost doubles August 4, 2025 Profit at the UK arm of McDonald’s almost doubled in 2024 as it shed more than 2,000 jobs, it has been revealed. The US fast food giant has posted a pre-tax profit of £120m for its latest financial year, up from the £66.3m it reported in 2023. That figure though was down from the £170.8m [...]
Reeves’ non-dom crackdown is unwittingly driving rich Brits away too August 4, 2025 The hordes of wealthy foreigners leaving Britain to escape the government’s non-dom crackdown are being joined by high-net-worth Brits capitalising on an arcane element of the policy that has made it easier for them to avoid paying inheritance tax (IHT). Several wealth advisers and tax lawyers have reported a “second wave of interest” from middle-aged [...]
Motor finance redress scheme to cost up to £18bn, FCA says August 3, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed it will consult on an industry-wide redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance ruling last Friday. The City watchdog is aiming to publish a consultation by early October, with total costs of the redress expected to be between £9bn and £18bn. The regulator said in June that any [...]
Snoop Dogg, Reynolds and Modric: What’s luring stars to Welsh football? August 3, 2025 From Wrexham to Swansea and, perhaps soon, Cardiff: is the need for narratives leading the rich and famous to Welsh football? Two years ago, an American couple at Crewe train station asked me if they were on the right platform. They’d travelled from the other side of the world to go on a football pilgrimage. [...]
Libby in Paris: How to drink wine like the French August 2, 2025 There’s something so effortlessly chic about Parisians. The French way of life is tightly woven with centuries of excellent wine-making, and they seem to drink it beautifully. I popped over for Bastille Day to see if I could learn to sip with similar sophistication. It began as soon as I arrived. I had booked a [...]
Inside SLB v BBF: Top lawyers, bitter barbs and the European Super League August 2, 2025 Next week lawyers representing Super League Basketball clubs will lodge their response to a counter-claim from the British Basketball Federation, the latest move in a High Court legal battle that is giving the sport much-needed attention but for all the wrong reasons. In a nutshell, the BBF has stripped SLB of its licence to run [...]
After work drinks are back! Check out this Soho pop-up August 1, 2025 Casamigos Tequila will host a two-day celebration in central London next week, with a programme of events taking place across several Soho venues. Taking place on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 August, the event – titled CASA-SOHO – will see The Blue Posts on Berwick Street temporarily renamed The Teal Posts. The venue will serve [...]