The ugly truth: Business rates are bad for the beauty industry February 3, 2026 Salons are grappling with the simultaneous rise of the National Living Wage, increased Employer National Insurance contributions, and skyrocketing utility costs. They should be given the same consideration as pubs, says Victoria Brownlie The British high street is often described as the heartbeat of our communities, and for years, the hair and beauty sector has [...]
Tories gain on Reform in polls yet Badenoch struggles for approval February 3, 2026 The Conservatives have slightly narrowed Reform UK’s polling lead though Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch suffered a setback with a sharp decrease in approval ratings over the last month. The Tories now lead Labour by five percentage points and trail Nigel Farage’s party by eight points in City AM/Freshwater Strategy’s monthly poll. Reform UK enjoy 30 [...]
Morningstar Completes Acquisition of CRSP and Extends Relationship with Vanguard February 2, 2026 The CRSP integration unites two trusted sources of market insight, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, quality, and investor-focused solutions and solidifying Morningstar’s position as a top-tier global index provider.
Vedanta Ltd Reports Record-Breaking Q3: Profit Surges 60% to $0.9 Bn, Revenue up 19% February 2, 2026 India based Vedanta Limited (BSE: 500295 & NSE: VEDL), the world’s leading producer of metals, oil & gas, critical minerals, power and technology, announced its results for the third quarter and nine months ended 31st December 2025. The company recorded its highest-ever quarterly revenue of $5.2 Bn, up 19% YoY. It reported record quarterly EBITDA [...]
GDP set to soften in 2026 as tax hikes bite February 2, 2026 The UK is set for another year of soggy growth, according to new forecasts from EY, with the government’s tax hikes and ongoing worries about a global trade war hamstringing momentum. The Big Four firm predicted that GDP would rise 0.9 per cent in 2026, slower than the 1.4 per cent recorded last year, as [...]
Tories issue challenge against Trump’s ‘mistake’ on trade February 2, 2026 The Conservatives have issued a direct challenge to President Trump on the benefits of free trade as shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said tariffs risked undermining transatlantic relations. In a speech at a conference hosted by British-American Business, Stride argued that free trade was “worth defending” as he took aim at President Trump’s protectionist policies. He [...]
Salons could ‘pull down shutters for good’ as business rates bite February 2, 2026 The British Beauty Council has urged the government to extend support on business rates to hair and beauty salons, or watch firms up and down the country “pull down their shutters for good”. Victoria Brownlie, chief policy and sustainability officer at the British Beauty Council, warned that the profitability of beauty salons has been “hollowed [...]
KBRA Releases UK RMBS Indices: Q4 2025 February 2, 2026 KBRA releases its inaugural quarterly UK residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) indices, comprising UK RMBS prime, buy-to-let (BTL), and nonconforming (NC) segments. KBRA’s UK RMBS indices complement our collection of monthly credit indices, which track credit performance in the auto, marketplace consumer, solar, residential mortgage, and equipment loan and lease sectors across Europe and the US. [...]
Urban Pubs and Bars defies hospitality gloom with doubling of profit February 2, 2026 One of London’s biggest pub chains has defied hospitality gloom after posting a more than doubling of profit. Urban Pubs and Bars, which operates more than fifty venues across the capital including The Wren in Bank, the Commercial Tavern in Spitalfields and the Punch Tavern in Fleet Street, saw pre-trax profit climb to £1.7m for [...]
Mandelson to Epstein: JP Morgan should ‘threaten’ UK over banker tax February 2, 2026 Lord Peter Mandelson told Jeffrey Epstein that the boss of banking giant JP Morgan should “mildly threaten” the UK Treasury over a tax on banker bonuses whilst the peer was serving as business secretary. New bombshell revelations in the latest drop of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice showed Mandelson, who worked [...]