Asda needs to ‘dig down into its soul’ and recover sense of purpose, say analysts December 9, 2024 Asda needs to “dig down into its soul” and reshape its pitch to customers if it wants to tackle the rising threat from the likes of Aldi and Lidl following a rollercoaster 2024, analysts have warned. The Leeds-headquartered supermarket giant has not been far from the headlines all year amid debt struggles, strikes, falling sales [...]
Business confidence drops at fastest pace for over three years December 9, 2024 The optimism index dropped 5.8 points to 93.49 in November, which was the largest monthly fall since August 2021.
The markets in 2025 December 9, 2024 Market forces are likely to continue to change into next year and dealmakers need to be ready, says Merlin Piscitelli With elevated wage costs and tax changes, business sentiment has sunk to an all-time low, following the Autumn Budget. But while confidence in growth under a Labour government appears weak, one industry that is booming is mergers [...]
How to build affordable housing December 9, 2024 Any plan to actually deliver the 1.5m homes the government has committed to must be guided by pragmatism, not dogma – and lower targets for affordable housing can often result in more actually getting built, says Marc Vlessing The sudden departure of both senior leaders at Homes England is an opportunity to rethink the role [...]
London says ‘olá’ to Latin America December 9, 2024 Fuelled by a growing economy and a burgeoning middle class, there’s no better place to look for investment than Latin America, says Vincent Keaveny Despite challenges to its leadership, London has fought to retain its top position in the global financial sector. The City of London Corporation’s 2024 benchmark saw the capital just about beat [...]
Cabinet minister pledges to make government more ‘start up’ December 8, 2024 A cabinet minister is set to pledge that the government will become “more like a start up” ahead of the launch of a £100m fund targeting public service reform. Pat McFadden will call for Whitehall to adopt a ‘test and learn culture’, stating: “If we keep governing as usual, we are not going to achieve [...]
Hamilton rolls back the years on Mercedes farewell in Abu Dhabi December 8, 2024 Lewis Hamilton was delighted to finish on a high after he defied starting from the back end of the grid to pip teammate George Russell to fourth place in his final race for Mercedes. Lando Norris won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to ensure McLaren held off Ferrari and won their first Formula 1 [...]
London coaxes bankers back from political chaos in Europe December 8, 2024 Political chaos across Europe is pushing bankers to stay in London rather than follow through on plans to move to the continent. Following Brexit, many bankS began shifting certain roles across the channel, sometimes due to requests from European regulators, and sometimes to stay better connected to the continent. A senior banking source told the [...]
Water firms look to increase bills amid fears of £400m National Insurance hit December 8, 2024 Water companies are hoping billpayers will carry the cost of a £400m hit from rising national insurance contributions over the next five years, previously announced in the Autumn Budget. The accumulated cost to all water firms’ in England and Wales comes to £80m per year, water industry sources told the Sunday Times. Firms have now [...]
Tom Willis makes mockery of England omission as Saracens bludgeon Bulls December 8, 2024 Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall urged England to take note after No8 Tom Willis burnished his growing reputation with a man-of-the-match display in Saturday’s 27-5 Investec Champions Cup win over the Bulls. Willis was surprisingly omitted from Steve Borthwick’s 36-man England squad for last month’s Autumn Nations Series but made a mockery of that [...]