Employment Rights Act changes could cost Premier League clubs millions February 18, 2026 Premier League clubs could be forced to pay millions in player dismissal fees when Labour changes to the Employment Rights Act come into force next year. It comes as the UK’s unemployment rate reached a near five-year high on Tuesday morning. The Employment Rights Act, a brainchild of former deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, will [...]
FCA chief: We can’t solve every problem with new rules February 18, 2026 The Financial Conduct Authority will avoid introducing fresh rules as its stock response to new forms of market failure, its boss has said, as the regulator looks to avoid time-consuming consultation processes and speed up its action. Nikhil Rathi told the Fairer Finance podcast that “not every problem can be solved quickly” by the watchdog [...]
Bank of England took ‘eye off ball on inflation’, says Jenrick February 18, 2026 Robert Jenrick is set to make his first major pitch to the City, in his first major outing as Reform’s spokesman on Treasury matters. The Newark MP is expected to commit to the independence of the Bank of England but pledge to “strip the Bank of distractions which have been loaded onto it”. “We will [...]
John Lewis boosts staff pay despite losses February 18, 2026 Retail giant John Lewis has announced a £108m investment in staff pay despite losses at the retail giant tripling over its last financial year. The John Lewis Partnership, which also owns supermarket Waitrose, announced on Wednesday it will hike shop floor pay by 6.9 per cent, which it says will boost the pay packet of [...]
Senior Red Bull Racing figure leaves F1 team weeks before new season February 17, 2026 The period of personnel upheaval continued at the Red Bull Formula 1 team on Tuesday with the departure of chief designer Craig Skinner. Skinner had been with the outfit for 20 years and his departure follows in the footsteps of the likes of design guru Adrian Newey and former Team Principal Christian Horner in leaving the [...]
LaLiga claims court order win over NordVPN February 17, 2026 Top flight Spanish football league LaLiga has successfully obtained legal orders against internet regulator bypasser NordVPN, it says. It is part of a sustained campaign by the Spanish league against piracy of matches both domestically and internationally. The Commercial Court demanded as part of its order that NordVPN and fellow site ProtonVPN now actively seek [...]
Funding gap looms over Britain’s small businesses February 17, 2026 Record numbers of Brits are starting businesses, but innovation and export activity among small and medium-sized enterprises have fallen to a four-year low, as a looming funding gap threatens growth. The latest State of Small Business Britain report from the European Research Council (ERC) found that 36 per cent of working-age adults are running or [...]
LA mayor calls for Wasserman resignation over Epstein files mention February 17, 2026 The mayor of Los Angeles has called on Casey Wasserman to resign as chairman of the 2028 Olympic Games after his name was found in a recent dump of the Epstein files. Karen Bass told US Network CNN that she “cannot fire him” but said that Wasserman, whose namesake talent and sports marketing agency is [...]
Hospitality crisis pushed thousands of firms to shut in 2025 February 17, 2026 Thousands of hospitality industries were forced to call time last year, as soaring operating costs took their toll. The owners of 3,353 accommodation, food and drink firms entered insolvency proceedings in the twelve months to December 2025, according to the Buchler Phillips hospitality index. These insolvencies spell out the impact of food inflation and climbing [...]
Jefferies: Starmer unlikely to be in office by July February 17, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer is likely to be ousted from office before the end of July, according to a top investment bank which warned that irrespective of whether there’s a change in leadership the Labour party is likely to lurch leftwards on economic policy. Analysts at Jefferies said the Prime Minister had been left vulnerable by [...]