Are we in the calm before the economic storm? May 20, 2026 There is a palpable sense of being in the calm before the storm. Thanks to the backward-looking nature of most economic data releases, we’re being fed glimpses of the gathering gloom. The latest GDP growth data from the ONS covered Q1 and came in at a respectable 0.6 per cent. However, it has been widely [...]
Billionaire exodus should not be UK’s headline concern May 20, 2026 Billionaires are good for headlines, but it's what's happening lower down the corporate food chain that interests Susannah Streeter.
Pacific Prime Unveiled the Global Employee Benefits Trends Report 2026 May 20, 2026 Pacific Prime, a leading global health insurance brokerage and employee benefits specialist, unveiled its latest Global Employee Benefits Trends Report (GEBTR) 2026. The report shines lights on the global businesses’ responses to the pressing cost challenges and evolving workplace demographics. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519733156/en/ Cost dominates benefits strategies [...]
John Lewis, Debenhams censored over Black Friday ads May 20, 2026 John Lewis, Debenhams and Boots have been censored over “misleading” Black Friday ads after being accused of overstating the discounts on offer to shoppers. The three retail giants have had their adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which monitors ads using an AI-powered tool. The watchdog has been cracking down on retailers’ pricing claims [...]
‘Lost for words’ – Treasury sparks uproar with push to cap supermarket food prices May 19, 2026 The Treasury is putting pressure on supermarkets to cap prices on staple groceries as a quid pro quo for axing taxes and red tape amid fears the Iran war is set to unleash a painful bout of food inflation. According to leaked negotiations between major retailers and the government, the Chancellor’s officials have been pushing [...]
Rejecting affordable homes means Peckham will get no homes May 19, 2026 Southwark council has rejected the redevelopment of the low-rise Aylesham shopping centre on the basis that it did not include enough affordable homes. This completely misses the point, says Jeremy Driver London has England’s most acute housing shortage: the average rent for a one-bedroom flat is now around £1,500 a month, and the average home [...]
City analysts brand SNP food price cap ‘hair brained’ May 19, 2026 Top city analysts have slammed the SNP’s pledge to cap food prices as “hair brained,” as the party’s leader refuses to walk back from the policy. City broker Shore Capital said the SNP’s proposals to cap the prices of some foods would risk diminishing choice, hampering investment in Scotland’s food industry and could even threaten [...]
‘Obscene’ – HS2 on track to cost at least £102bn as minister slams ‘gold-plated folly’ May 19, 2026 HS2 is now poised to cost the taxpayer as much as £102bn and will not run from Euston until at least 2040, according to the transport secretary who blasted the project as a “massively over-specced folly”. Heidi Alexander said the cost of the ill-fated train line was now on course to nearly double from the [...]
Black Sheep Coffee founder: ‘The Square Mile is a magical place’ May 19, 2026 Black Sheep Coffee was founded in the Square Mile but has now expanded across the world. Its co-founder tells Felix Armstrong about his roots in the City Gabriel Shohet is a company man. The Black Sheep Coffee founder enters the meeting room at the coffee chain’s Southwark offices clad in a branded hoodie, with a [...]
Natixis Investment Managers’ Funds Honored at the 2026 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards Worldwide May 19, 2026 Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM) today announced that several of its affiliate asset management companies, including DNCA Investments, Dorval Asset Management, Mirova*, Ostrum Asset Management, Vega Investment Solutions, and WCM Investment Management, have been recognized at the 2026 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards. These distinctions, awarded in the US, Europe, and Asia, reward funds that have [...]