London-listed builder exits ‘challenging’ housing sector after property market slowdown Property A top listed construction firm has pulled out of the UK’s “challenging” housing sector after a slump in demand for new homes across the country. FTSE 250 firm Kier told shareholders on Tuesday that it is pulling all capital out of the residential property sector in a bid to “de-risk” its portfolio. The group’s pre-tax [...]
UK at risk of £290bn finance industry ‘being governed overseas’ Economics The UK is at risk of its booming financial services industry being governed overseas after lagging behind international rivals in digital asset innovation, a new report has warned. Banking industry body UK Finance has issued a rallying call to policymakers to move at pace in developing the infrastructure to power tokenisation, or see the country [...]
Hammersmith Bridge is a test for Burnham’s place-based growth Opinion Putting forward funds to reopen Hammersmith Bridge is not special pleading for the capital, it is common sense, writes Tolga Inanc.
Balfour Beatty ups profit forecasts as it defies construction gloom August 12, 2026 Balfour Beatty has boosted its earnings and cash flow targets, as the construction firm’s “real momentum” defies wider gloom facing the sector. The group, which works with the government on major infrastructure projects, has seen the value of its order book jump by 17 per cent to £22.9bn in the six months to June, as [...]
‘Social value’ procurement rules are an absurd waste of time and money August 6, 2026 Procurement is not a sexy topic, but stay with me here. The public sector spends around £400bn a year buying goods and services from the private sector. You can imagine the scale: NHS equipment and Ministry of Defence gear, police cars and IT infrastructure, immigration processing centres, security guards, construction projects and fax machines. It’s [...]
Ordnance Survey revenue jumps as map maker goes digital August 4, 2026 Ordnance Survey has posted record revenue growth as the mapping agency takes the fight to Apple and Google with the “most detailed digital map of Britain to date”. The firm, which is Great Britain’s official mapping service, posted a 2.1 per cent jump in revenue to £199m in the year to March, driven by its [...]
Andy Burnham must shake Britain out of ‘analysis paralysis’ and get building July 28, 2026 To address the UK’s broken infrastructure delivery model, Arup advocates for a new approach that prioritizes locally-led, outcome-focused projects and creative financing to better connect communities and drive economic growth, says Andrew Nothstine Andy Burnham has already set out his governing philosophy and guiding aims. His ‘north stars’ are economic growth in every postcode through [...]
Thames Water creditors open door to public control under Burnham July 19, 2026 The creditors seeking to gain control of Thames Water have opened the door to greater public control of the struggling utility in a bid to bring Andy Burnham’s team to the negotiating table. Mike McTighe, the turnaround specialist who has been working with the group on an overhaul of Thames Water’s board, has called on [...]
Top investors managing $3tn to gain access to UK infrastructure projects via AI platform July 14, 2026 Top global investors managing around $3 trillion in assets will be given access to “fragmented” British infrastructure projects under plans for an AI platform designed to fix the industry’s investment woes. Both national and regional projects will be connected to trillions of global capital through the AI platform, dubbed InvestConnect, in a bid to accelerate [...]
Nscale and ElevenLabs power £41bn AI boom as Britain cements unicorn crown July 1, 2026 Britain’s AI sector has more than tripled in value in just a year, with fast-growing firms including Nscale and ElevenLabs now worth a combined £41bn as the UK strengthens its position as Europe’s leading startup hub. New research from the Hurun UK Unicorn Index shows the country’s nine AI unicorns have surged to a combined [...]