Category: News

New research lays bare a striking paradox: workforces at Britain’s most innovative firms are growing fastest outside the south-east, yet eight in every ten venture pounds still pour into the so-called golden triangle.

Early-stage funding for Britain’s clean tech start-ups halved in 2025, hitting a five-year low. Cleantech for UK warns the innovation pipeline is at risk.

Rolls-Royce reaffirms its £4bn profit guidance for 2026 as engine flying hours run 15% above pre-pandemic levels, shrugging off Middle East war fears and a 20% share-price slide.

Meta lifts its 2026 AI capex forecast to as much as $145bn, sending shares 7% lower in after-hours trading despitMark Zuckerberg’s pledge to deliver “personal superintelligence” fails to calm Wall Street as the social media group lifts its 2026 capital expenditure forecast by another $10bn, even as an algorithm overhaul drives record time spent on Instagram and Facebook.
e a strong Q1 earnings beat and record engagement.

Britain’s biggest winemaker uncorks a record-breaking year as chief executive James Pennefather sticks to his audacious target of capturing 1 per cent of the global champagne market by 2035.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread is scrapping its branded restaurants and recycling £1.5bn of hotel freeholds, putting 3,800 jobs at risk in a sweeping five-year strategic reset.

JP Morgan is shifting trading roles from Paris back to London after over-estimating EU staffing needs post-Brexit, as it presses ahead with its £10bn Canary Wharf tower.

John Lewis faces a High Court battle as Brent Cross landlords Hammerson and Standard Life argue a 1972 lease entitles them to a cut of click-and-collect sales.

Aidan and Howard Barclay escape bankruptcy as HSBC withdraws its High Court petitions following an Individual Voluntary Arrangement with creditors over the collapse of the family’s £143.5m logistics empire.

Niesr warns the UK economy will lose £35bn over two years as the Iran conflict pushes inflation above 4% and forces the Bank of England to raise interest rates. SMEs face a fresh squeeze.

Claire’s Accessories has shut all 154 standalone stores across the UK and Ireland, with 1,300 staff made redundant after a second administration in 12 months.

Tony Blair Institute calls on ministers to slam an ’emergency handbrake’ on Britain’s spiralling £78bn sickness benefits bill, warning that mild mental health and musculoskeletal conditions should no longer trigger cash payouts.

The United Arab Emirates has announced it is to withdraw from Opec and the wider Opec+ alliance after nearly six decades of membership, in a move that analysts warn could herald the unravelling of the world’s most powerful oil cartel and usher in a fresh wave of price volatility for British businesses already grappling with stubborn energy costs.

Lloyds Banking Group was the UK’s most complained-about financial services firm in H2 2025, with 187,516 grievances logged as the sector paid out £236.2m in redress.