London Sports Festival moves from 3×3 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Yard
Could a ‘land blocking’ rule change spell danger for Aldi and Lidl? Retail German discounters Aldi and Lidl have rapidly taken control of the UK’s budget grocery market in recent years. But could new curbs on ‘land blocking’ slow their insurgency? Only a few decades ago, Lidl and Aldi were oddities. By 2008, the German discount supermarkets had been in the UK for more than 10 years but [...]
Does the real economy care that much about AI? AI Take your pick of alarmist projections about the future of the global economy from top tech leaders. Monzo’s founder, Tom Blomfield, reckons unemployment will surge over the next five years as more and more human output is replaced by AI. Elon Musk reckons it will be near 100 per cent in a decade. But projections [...]
Brits think supermarkets are profiteering – despite slowing food inflation Retail The majority of Brits think that supermarkets are profiteering from rising food prices caused by the Iran war despite the Chancellor John Healey recently admitting there was little evidence of the practice, new polling has revealed. Some 70 per cent of UK voters believe that supermarkets are making “excessive” profits from food inflation, according to [...]
Back to basics: Sainsbury’s gradual retreat from the British high street August 8, 2026 Sainsbury’s deal to sell its catalogue retailer Argos marks the latest step in the grocer’s years-long retreat from a high street conglomerate back to its core food business. The FTSE 100 supermarket giant holds a 15 per cent market share of grocery stores, second only to Tesco. But the firm once had a sprawling business [...]
A tribute to wine legend Matthew Jukes by his friend Libby Brodie August 7, 2026 The wine writer and entrepreneur Matthew Jukes died suddenly this week aged just 58 years old. Our wine writer and his close friend Libby Brodie remembers a legend of the wine industry and beyond Matthew Jukes was one of the very best people I met in my career in wine. Scratch that, he was one [...]
‘Hard work ahead’: Diageo shares soar as Drastic Dave’s cost savings lift investor spirits August 6, 2026 Diageo shares jumped as much as eight per cent on Thursday after the London drinks giant vowed to deliver as much as $850m (£631m) in cost savings, as new boss Dave Lewis vowed to turn around the firm’s fortunes. The FTSE 100 owner of Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Tanqueray reported a three per cent dip [...]
Will Drastic Dave live up to his name at Diageo? August 4, 2026 Putting the finishing touches to Diageo’s annual report, Sir Dave Lewis may be channelling the old slogan of the drinks giant’s prize brand, Guinness: ‘Good things come to those who wait’. Since Lewis began his tenure as chief executive of the FTSE 100 firm on New Year’s Day, investors have heard very little from him. [...]
Retailers hit back at Healey’s ‘profiteering’ threat August 3, 2026 Retailers have hit back at the Chancellor’s warning against profiteering, saying they will prove they have fought hard to keep food prices down during the Iran war. Chancellor John Healey said at the weekend that the Treasury is prepared to crack down on any retailers which are taking Brits “for a ride” by using the [...]
For Albarino in the City, head to Humble Grape July 29, 2026 Not satisfied with one isolated national grape day, Albarino (or Alvarinho in Portugal) is about to kick off a week’s worth of celebrations from 1 August. This annual event began in the 1950s in Spain as a wine-tasting competition between local winemakers and was later made official, spreading internationally to highlight what makes this grape [...]
Tesco Mobile breaches £600m debt facility after reporting failure July 23, 2026 The UK’s biggest virtual mobile network operator has breached the terms of its debt facility after a reporting shortfall, City AM can reveal. Tesco Mobile, which has more than 5m customers and is owned by Virgin Media O2 and Tesco, identified a breach in covenants in the funding agreement it has with the Royal Bank [...]