UK firms slash consulting spend amid rising AI adoption Prof Services British businesses are paring back their spending on consulting firms as they turn to AI for problem-solving, according to City AM’s new Business Spend Pulse. Median spending on consulting fees fell by 1.9 per cent in August compared to last year, the tracker found, despite an overall 2.2 per cent increase in corporate spending. That [...]
Top FTSE headhunter rescued by rival after plunging into administration Consulting A City-based boutique headhunter which won executive-level talent for a host of FTSE 250 firms and collapsed after pumping investment into an AI platform has been purchased by one of its competitors, City AM can reveal. 6 Group, a global executive recruitment consultancy, purchased Savannah Group and its AI platform, MapX, in July after founder [...]
KPMG seeks financial support from parent group in wake of audit scandal Big Four KPMG Australia has asked its parent company for financial support and laid off hundreds of staff after an audit scandal rocked the Big Four firm’s business down under. In its annual results on Monday, the Australian arm of the accounting group said it will cut its workforce by five per cent and partner pay by [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers snaps up Harvey Nichols August 13, 2026 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has bought Harvey Nichols, plucking the struggling luxury department store from the jaws of insolvency. The group, which also owns Sports Direct and Flannels, has acquired each of the chain’s stores, excluding the site in Dublin, from FTI Consulting through a pre-pack administration process. Frasers’ acquisition of Harvey Nichols marks the [...]
Former Crystal Palace owner John Textor scores temporary block of Brazilian football club share sale August 12, 2026 Former Crystal Palace owner John Textor has been granted a temporary injunction from the High Court to block City-based administrators from selling his 90 per cent stake in Brazilian football club SAF Botafogo. The order follows the American business mogul launching multiple parallel lawsuits in England, the US, and Brazil against his UK holding company, [...]
Revealed: Natwest banked company used by MFS founder to ‘siphon off’ funds August 12, 2026 Natwest provided banking services to a company allegedly used by the founder of collapsed property lender MFS to divert investors’ cash and “siphon off” funds, City AM can reveal. The bank held the day-to-day account for Twinwin, a company that was allegedly used by Market Financial Solutions founder Paresh Raja to generate fees from clients’ [...]
Family feud: London estate agent Winkworth sues chair over plot with wife to oust son from board August 7, 2026 London estate agent Winkworth has initiated High Court proceedings against its chair, Simon Agace, for an alleged breach of contract after he and his wife attempted to oust the company’s board, including his son, City AM can reveal. The AIM-listed company, which is one of the UK’s oldest estate agents and specialises in high-end properties [...]
Mark Kleinman: Well runs dry for Thames Water creditors July 23, 2026 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his City AM column Well runs dry for Thames Water creditors Are Thames Water’s taps about to run dry? Not literally, of course – but Andy Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street has fired the starting gun on a creditor sprint to [...]
Easyjet shares crash on fears of EU probe July 22, 2026 Shares in Easyjet plummeted on Wednesday after reports the European Union was preparing a probe into the ownership of airlines, potentially complicating the carrier’s mooted takeover by Apollo. The London-listed budget airline said this month it was likely to accept an all-cash offer from the US investment behemoth, trumping an earlier bid from another US [...]
Crown Prosecution Service caught using AI hallucination evidence July 15, 2026 British courts have had to deal with yet another case of ‘AI hallucination’ evidence – this time from the agency responsible for conducting criminal prosecutions. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued two apologies to the High Court after it was found to have submitted documents in an extradition appeal citing two “non-existent” legal cases. The [...]