Otherland at the Almeida review: Saccharine and melodramatic February 25, 2025 Otherland | Almeida | ★★☆☆☆ Chris Bush’s best-known play to date, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, divided opinion at City AM. I found this strange musical about a Sheffield housing estate to be quite charming, if a little twee, while my colleague, reviewing the West End transfer, hated it with every fibre of her being. [...]
Why The Gallivant is a wine-lover’s happy place February 25, 2025 Oh, The Gallivant, how I love you. I would say “let me count the ways” but there would be too many for this column’s wordcount. Despite my loving almost any excuse for a celebration, Valentines Day has not cut the proverbial mustard enough times and it has lost its lustre. Going out means sitting elbow [...]
Can Super League use Las Vegas and NRL to turbocharge English rugby league? February 25, 2025 The Super League is venturing to Las Vegas to piggyback on the NRL. But can it help to turbocharge rugby league in England? “It’s fantastic, I’ve watched a couple of the games. They’re proper hard players, and maybe they deserve that little bit more publicity. They’re spreading the word.” Those were the thoughts of Manchester [...]
Chemring shares jump after Bain Capital makes bid February 24, 2025 Bain Capital, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, has reportedly launched a takeover bid for defence group Chemring. Sky News’ Mark Kleinman first reported that Bain has made at least one proposal to acquire the FTSE 250 group, which is used by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Shares in Chemring jumped as much as 13 [...]
Monument Bank looks to the US for possible IPO February 24, 2025 Monument Bank, one of the UK’s fastest-growing challenger banks, has reportedly told investors it wants to go public in the US before 2027 – marking another blow for the London market. The bank is in talks to raise £200m in private funding before pursuing a flotation on New York’s Nasdaq exchange, as reported by Sky [...]
Jonathan Reynolds relaunches trade deal talks with India February 24, 2025 The UK has relaunched talks on a free trade deal with India, with Jonathan Reynolds in New Delhi to resume negotiations. The business and trade secretary begins refreshed discussions with his Indian counterpart commerce minister Piyush Goyal in the South Asian capital today (Monday, February 24), marking a new phase of negotiations between the world’s [...]
Why more City workers should join the Army February 24, 2025 If you want to boost UK defence, support your workers joining the Army's Reserve Forces, writes Lord Mayor Alastair King.
Defence spending: 2.5 per cent of GDP is ‘ambitious,’ minister says February 23, 2025 Raising UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of national income is “ambitious”, a cabinet minister has insisted as the government faces pressure to increase investment. It comes amid uncertainty over the future of the war in Ukraine, as the US began negotiations with Russia, excluding Kyiv from talks. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson sought to [...]
Payments regulator reportedly could be scrapped as No10 slashes red tape February 23, 2025 The UK’s payments regulator could be scrapped and folded into another regulator as part of efforts by No10 to slash red tape, according to Sky News. Ministers are mulling whether to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and amalgamate it into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the broadcaster has reported. A decision could come within [...]
Joseph Parker 35-3 career boxing record IN FULL February 22, 2025 Joseph Parker will look to win his sixth consecutive boxing fight on Saturday when he takes on Martin Bakole in Saudi Arabia. The bout at this week’s Riyadh Season sees the New Zealander look to add to his 23 knockout wins after Daniel Dubois dropped out due to illness. Parker has 12 victories by decision [...]