House sales keep increasing but price inflation slows June 30, 2025 Housing market activity has continued at its fastest rate for four years, although with plenty of choice available, house prices are under pressure, according to Zoopla’s latest house price update. Prices grew by 1.4 per cent year on year in May, according to Zoopla’s latest house price index. “There is plenty of demand to buy [...]
London’s 5G rollout is being strangled by a failed legal model June 27, 2025 London’s position at the bottom of Europe’s 5G performance rankings is the direct result of a failed telecoms access policy that has deterred investment, triggered mass litigation, and paralysed rollout. The Electronic Communications Code (ECC), reformed in 2017 to cut costs for mobile operators, removed the requirement to pay market rents for infrastructure sites. Instead, [...]
Driving a Ferrari Purosangue through sleepy St Mawes, Cornwall June 27, 2025 Ah, Cornwall, the second home capital of England. Of course, the locals loathe the incoming hoards from West London and the home counties, breezing in for a few sunny weeks of the year with their 4x4s, yoga mats and Big Green Egg barbecues. Following the G7 summit held in Carbis Bay in 2021, an especially [...]
How thriving, free-market Hong Kong came under the boot of communist China June 26, 2025 What began on this day in 1843 ended in a strange form of decolonisation. The UK handed over a territory to China, not by popular demand, but to abide by international treaties, knowing that to the other side such agreements were worthless, says Eliot Wilson If you have any real memory of the handover of [...]
Have we crossed the AI event horizon? June 26, 2025 Despite Sam Altman’s claims that we’ve crossed the AI “event horizon,” the reality is that today’s models remain far behind human intelligence in scale, flexibility, efficiency and learning, says Lewis Liu Sam Altman is currently peddling the “gentle singularity“, claiming we are already “past the event horizon” for AI – at the point where the [...]
Profit surges at Richard Desmond’s empire ahead of UK lottery court battle June 25, 2025 Profit at Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell has surged ahead of a battle starting in the High Court over the UK’s National Lottery. The media tycoon is taking the Gambling Commission to court in October after missing out on winning the licence to run the National Lottery in 2022. Richard Desmond’s empire is seeking for [...]
Babcock shares soar as FTSE 100 giant hails ‘new era’ for defence June 25, 2025 Engineering giant Babcock posted a jump in profit for the latest financial year as the firm’s boss hailed a “new era for defence”. The FTSE 100 company – which plays a significant role in supporting the UK’s nuclear submarine program – recorded an 11 per cent increase in revenue to £4.8bn. Meanwhile, operating profit surged [...]
A non-dom tax U-turn could revive prime London property June 25, 2025 Prime property in areas like Mayfair and Belgravia is currently going for as little as £1,800 per square foot, but reversing inheritance tax on global assets could re-establish London’s appeal to the world’s rich, says Edward Matthews Reports that Rachel Reeves is considering reversing the requirement for overseas high net worth individuals (HNWI) to pay [...]
FCA reviewing bank risk appetite to boost home ownership June 24, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority has said it will review lenders’ risk-taking in its bid to boost home ownership. The City watchdog said it was seeking a “public conversation” on the “future of the mortgage market” as it looks to support economic growth through an overhaul on mortgage rules. An update to “responding lending rules” was [...]
One twist left in the PHP and KKR bidding war for Assura June 23, 2025 The Assura bidding war between KKR and PHP looked to be sealing its final chapter on Monday – but analysts warn there could be one more twist in the saga. Assura said on Monday it had recommended its board to accept a fresh cash offer from PHP, which valued the firm at £1.79bn. The deal [...]