John Lewis’ new boss faces a battle to boost online sales August 12, 2026 Another cloud appeared in an already gloomy sky for John Lewis on Monday, when its managing director, Peter Ruis, announced his surprise departure. Just days before, an internal interview with the group’s chair, Jason Tarry, was leaked to the press, in which he warned of a “really tough” period for the firm. Ruis’s decision to [...]
Smarsh Named to Inc. 5000 for the 19th Consecutive Year August 11, 2026 Smarsh continues to lead the industry with sustained AI-driven innovation and growth
Can John Healey deliver Burnham’s make-or-break devolution agenda? August 11, 2026 Devolution is Andy Burnham’s preferred growth lever. Maurício Alencar explores how devolution under Chancellor John Healey could save Britain – or destroy it. In 1998, two of the closest aides of then-chancellor Gordon Brown produced a report into the regional economic divide in Britain. The report, called ‘Towards a new regional policy: Delivering growth and [...]
Claude to watermark AI ‘slop’ – including edited human writing August 11, 2026 Anthropic will begin adding invisible watermarks to text generated by Claude as part of new EU rules designed to make AI-generated content easier to identify. But the system will also mark some text originally written by humans if it has subsequently been edited or processed by Claude, potentially complicating efforts to determine whether material was [...]
Housebuilder Bellway calls for ‘immediate’ cut to stamp duty August 11, 2026 Housebuilder Bellway has called on the government to slash stamp duty immediately and roll out a first-time buyer scheme to revive Britain’s flagging housing industry. The FTSE 250 firm said on Tuesday that housing demand has been hammered by last year’s pre-Budget speculation and the recent rising mortgage rates triggered by the Iran war. Jason [...]
Burnham to crack down on vape and betting shops August 11, 2026 Andy Burnham is set to unveil a crackdown on vape and betting shops in a bid to boost British high streets, which the Prime Minister says have been “hollowed out” in recent decades. Burnham will on Tuesday set out plans to scrap the Blair-era “aim to permit” rule, which requires councils to accept planning applications [...]
Holiday Inn owner suffers Middle East slowdown as Iran war hits tourism August 11, 2026 The owner of Holiday Inn has suffered a slump in revenue at its Middle Eastern business as the Iran war knocked the region’s tourist economy. Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) said its revenue per available room in the Middle East slipped by 19 per cent in the three months to June. This followed a two per [...]
Richard Branson says UK must ‘make it easier’ to be an entrepreneur August 11, 2026 Sir Richard Branson has called on policy makers to do more to support and “champion” British entrepreneurs. The founder of Virgin Group, who launched his iconic business selling records in 1970, said the UK must go further to create an environment where entrepreneurs want to set up and run a business. Writing in City AM, [...]
Burnham should go on a ‘cost of doing business’ tour August 11, 2026 An alarming note from one of the City’s top economists warns that October’s Budget could see taxes rise by almost the same amount as they did last year when Rachel Reeves cooked up £26bn worth of fresh hikes. Ruth Gregory, Deputy Chief UK Economist at Capital Economics, suggests that higher taxes “perhaps worth up to [...]
‘Cost of business crisis’ as government drives up overheads by 70 per cent in a decade August 11, 2026 British companies are facing a “cost of business crisis” as a string of controversial government policies have pushed up an average firm’s expenses by 70 per cent in a decade, one of the country’s largest industry bodies has found. A typical-mid-sized firm is now paying roughly £827,000 more a year than they were in 2016 [...]