‘I only went into banking because people said it was the hardest job to get’: Propelle founder Ayesha Ofori July 31, 2025 Ayesha Ofori, former City banker and founder of investment platform Propelle, takes us through her career in this week's Square Mile and Me.
Banks back in crosshairs as Labour eyes tax hikes July 31, 2025 George Osborne’s likely payday from the sale of Robey Warshaw to US giant Evercore won’t be the first time he’s extracted money from the banking sector. In his inaugural 2010 Budget he announced a UK bank levy of 0.05 per cent on certain bank liabilities. Conceived in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the [...]
Hotel billionaire launches shock bid to run Heathrow expansion July 31, 2025 The race to manage Heathrow’s multibillion-pound third runway expansion has been thrown wide open after a rival suitor confirmed it will submit a proposal to go up against an expected bid from the airport’s current operators. The Arora Group, a hotel chain with 13 hotels in transport hubs across London and the South East, confirmed [...]
Football clubs suffering from too few directors, report warns July 30, 2025 All professional football clubs in England should be mandated to have at least three directors to prevent governance failings that threaten their existence, a new report warns today. The report, by LCP’s Sports Analytics and Advisory practice and governance specialists LawDeb, highlights worryingly small boards at many clubs in the top five divisions. Fourteen clubs [...]
HSBC boss: Rachel Reeves hiking bank tax would dent growth July 30, 2025 The boss of FTSE 100 juggernaut HSBC has become the latest banking voice to warn Rachel Reeves against raising taxes on banks over fears it would harm economic growth. Georges Elhedery, HSBC’s chief executive, said on Wednesday any further financial pressures on lenders could spark trouble for the UK economy. “Additional taxation on banks runs [...]
UK backs global AI safety plan with AWS and Anthropic July 30, 2025 The UK has launched a new global research coalition aimed at tackling one of the most pressing but least understood problems in artificial intelligence – ensuring that advanced AI systems behave in ways aligned with human values. Backed by £15m in funding and a wide-ranging group of partners, the so-called ‘Alignment Project’ was unveiled on [...]
Can a global minimum tax survive Trump? July 30, 2025 As the G7 exempts the US from the global minimum tax – otherwise known as Pillar 2 – experts are asking when a global tax stops being global? Say Tim Sarson Last month I opened this column talking about an announcement from the German government about a proposal to cut their federal corporation tax rate. [...]
Donald Trump slams North Sea oil taxes that ‘make no sense’ July 29, 2025 US President Donald Trump has slammed the UK for its high taxes on North Sea oil, which he described as a “TREASURE CHEST” for the UK. In an early morning post on Truth Social, Trump said the UK could cash in its oil reserves near Scotland, where Trump opened a new 18-hole course at the [...]
Vodafone boss faces renewed backlash over £85m franchise dispute July 29, 2025 Former franchisees accused telecoms giant Vodafone of driving small business owners to the brink at its annual general meeting on Tuesday, amid a deepening £85m legal dispute over its former retail partner model. At the meeting in Newbury, several claimants involved in the lawsuit directly challenged chief executive Margherita Della Valle and chairman Jean-François van [...]
Mortgages rebound in lift for housing market July 29, 2025 Britons’ borrowing of mortgages and consumer credit rose at a faster pace in June, fresh Bank of England data has revealed, in signs that the recovery in the housing market is “well underway”. In monthly statistics released by the Bank to signal trends in the UK banking system, it was revealed that net borrowing of [...]