Ed Warner: Why the Olympics is frozen by complacency February 3, 2022 Curl up for the curling. Settle down for dust-ups on the rink. Thrill at the sliders and skiers. Swoon over the skaters. Grumble about geo-politics and overbearing branding. The Olympics are here again. Not the Olympics Olympics, obviously; rather their smaller Winter sibling. Less than half the number of competing nations, a quarter of the [...]
Mako Vunipola interview: ‘England can win the Grand Slam’ February 3, 2022 He may currently not be part of Eddie Jones’s Six Nations squad, but Mako Vunipola still thinks England will go undefeated this year. The experienced loosehead prop concedes that France “look strong” but believes key absences will make it hard for Wales to defend their title. “England can get the Grand Slam, yes,” Vunipola told [...]
Marco Bortolami: ‘Italy and Six Nations need each other but we must win more’ February 3, 2022 It’s been said before but I really think Italy are building for the future. New head coach Kieran Crowley has picked a squad with some exciting young players – my Benetton side are providing 23 members of Crowley’s party for this Six Nations. The main goal for Italy is to stay competitive in each match [...]
As Johnson and Starmer dance to the same tune, politics will look for an outsider February 3, 2022 THIS week, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has invoked Margaret Thatcher in an effort to skewer Boris Johnson for ignoring Covid rules and attacked the Prime Minister for presiding over a policy of “low growth and high taxes”. It’s a strong position for Starmer to be in, as support for Johnson groans under the [...]
Dame Katherine Grainger: Team GB can unite and inspire at Winter Olympics and Paralympics February 2, 2022 It is less than six months since our British Olympic and Paralympic stars returned from a triumphant performance at the summer games in Tokyo, yet the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games is almost upon us. The proximity of these Games to last summer’s events in Tokyo is a great opportunity for our athletes [...]
Levelling up: Khan says ‘deprived’ London areas need funding as much as the North February 2, 2022 Sadiq Khan has said London’s poorest boroughs are “some of the most deprived” in the UK and need funding just as much as the North in response to the government’s newly unveiled levelling up white paper. The mayor of London said he welcomed the new policy plan to help left behind areas in the North [...]
Activewear brand TALA raises £4.2m as it woos shoppers fed up with fast fashion February 2, 2022 Gen Z-orientated sustainable activewear brand TALA has raised £4.2m in funding with Active Partners and Venrex. Founded by social media influencer Grave Beverley, TALA aims to offer consciousness gym goers an affordable alternative to fast fashion rivals. Participants in the oversubscribed round included venture capital trust Pembroke VCT, as well as angel investors including Deciem [...]
Five trends that defined the January transfer window February 1, 2022 Blockbusting deals did not materialise and most of the big clubs kept their hands in their pockets but the Premier League still managed to register a record-breaking January transfer window. While last year’s winter transfer window was one of austerity as teams absorbed the financial impact of Covid-19, this time enough of them threw caution [...]
Exclusive: Ripple cosies up to UK regulators amid global payments push February 1, 2022 Ripple, the firm behind XRP, the world’s eighth largest crypto asset, aims to befriend UK regulators as it expands its cross-border payment capabilities.
Builders warn of ‘wasted opportunity’ with government brownfield funding January 31, 2022 Builders have warned that government plans to fund brownfield projects run the risk of being “more grandstanding and another wasted opportunity”. Under the government’s Levelling Up agenda, derelict sites in towns and city centres are to be used for new homes. Some 20 areas, including Wolverhampton and Sheffield, will be prioritised within a new £1.5bn [...]