Specsavers: Sales and profit rise as bumper pay day scrapped October 14, 2025 Specsavers has scrapped the bumper dividend it has been handing to its billionaire owners despite its sales and profit growing during its latest financial year. The chain has paid out £15m in each its last two financial years to founders Dame Mary Perkins and her husband Doug. Over that time, Specsavers’ turnover has increased from [...]
It’s a strike for Hollywood Bowl as record revenue drives continued expansion plans October 14, 2025 Hollywood Bowl is rolling into its new financial year on a high after reporting record revenues and pre-tax earnings. The Hemel Hempstead-based bowling and entertainment business saw its shares lift after it reported a 6.4 per cent rise in revenue to £212.4m for the year to end September. The firm said its earnings before interest, [...]
Unemployment rises as concerns grow for UK jobs market October 14, 2025 The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.8 per cent in September, while the inactivity rate was 21 per cent, “largely unchanged” on the previous quarter but below levels seen a year ago. The estimated number of vacancies in the UK also fell by 9,000, marking the 39th consecutive period of job posting declines. The ONS [...]
Mind the Split: London is the best city to be a divorce lawyer October 14, 2025 London’s reputation as the divorce capital of the world looks set to grow after a recent court ruling paved the way for more foreign cases to be heard in the city. Litigation-focused law firm Stewarts has expanded its high-net-worth practice to meet rising demand for complex, high-value divorce work. High-profile, high-net-worth divorces collect media headlines [...]
Aviva partners with ICE InsureTech for digital transformation October 13, 2025 Insurance giant Aviva has rolled out a digital insurance platform in partnership with ICE InsureTech, completing a transformation project in just 12 months. The overhaul saw Aviva go live in September 2025 with ICE’s Policy Admin System, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform aimed at streamlining operations and enabling fully digital insurance journeys. The system allows white-labelled, [...]
Why don’t London’s luxury hotels make any money? October 13, 2025 London is home to some of the most iconic and well-known luxury hotels in the world. The Savoy, the Ritz, The Dorchester and Claridge’s, to name just a few, are renowned the world over and have played host to the ultra wealth, celebrities and royalty. Also appearing in a string of popular films, London’s luxury [...]
A harmful budget risks shattering IPO revival, Cavendish chief warns October 13, 2025 The boss of a London-listed investment bank has warned Rachel Reeves must be “careful” her budget policies do not damage the recuperating IPO market. Speaking to City AM at City & Financial Global’s Capital Markets Summit, Julian Morse, chief executive of Cavendish, said: “The main driver [of the IPO market] is the economy, so if [...]
Don’t raise a glass to Starmer’s plan for pubs October 13, 2025 Keir Starmer claims he has a plan to save the struggling hospitality sector, but the detail is thin and all his other actions – like banning vapes and junkfood advertising – suggest his every impulse is to control people’s behaviour, says Eliot Wilson “Pubs and bars are the beating heart of our communities. Under our [...]
Finance chiefs fear UK is falling behind as Labour growth push falls flat October 13, 2025 UK finance chiefs believe the country is falling behind rivals as costs are stacking up and squeezing profit margins, a new survey has shown, with further alarm bells ringing that businesses are losing faith in Labour’s drive for growth. The government has moved to curry favour with top investment bosses as Rachel Reeves met the [...]
Rachel Reeves urged to levy one-off wealth tax October 13, 2025 Researchers say Rachel Reeves should introduce a one-off wealth tax to avoid the “direct disincentive” of an annual levy. But the Chancellor risks wreaking havoc on the UK economy unless she breaks Labour manifesto commitments and introduces vast reforms to the wider tax system, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). [...]