Salons could ‘pull down shutters for good’ as business rates bite February 2, 2026 The British Beauty Council has urged the government to extend support on business rates to hair and beauty salons, or watch firms up and down the country “pull down their shutters for good”. Victoria Brownlie, chief policy and sustainability officer at the British Beauty Council, warned that the profitability of beauty salons has been “hollowed [...]
Chair of elite law firm Paul Weiss made personal requests to Jeffrey Epstein February 2, 2026 The chairman of one of the most prominent law firms in America, Paul Weiss, was included in the US Department of Justice’s latest round of bombshell revelations in relation to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. One of the US’s leading litigators and corporate advisers, Brad Karp has been Paul Weiss’s chairman since 2008. Paul Weiss is [...]
UK rental giants swap petrol for EVs as sales reach record highs February 2, 2026 Electric and hybrid cars are quickly becoming the default choice for British drivers, bolstered by soaring EV sales and rental firms swapping out petrol and diesel models for low-emission vehicles. Strong growth in electric vehicle sales globally and domestically is feeding straight into hire fleets. Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, for instance, reported overseas deliveries [...]
AI just created its own religion. Should we be worried about Moltbook? February 2, 2026 Moltbook, a social media platform for AI agents, is making quite the impression. Should humans be worried, asks Lewis Liu.
UK payments stuck with ‘bolted on’ European regulation, says PSR boss February 2, 2026 The boss of the UK’s payments regulator has said the body’s consolidation with the City watchdog will allow it to ditch overhanging red tape from Europe. David Geale, who heads up the Payments System Regulator (PSR) and leads on payments at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said: “There are bits of payments regulation that have [...]
Employment falls despite manufacturing output hitting new high February 2, 2026 Employment across the manufacturing sector dropped despite output jumping to its highest level in 17 months, new data has shown. Manufacturers continued shedding staff due to high pay and tax pressures, according to S&P Global’s latest purchasing managers index (PMI). The poor reading for the labour market came in direct conflict with more positive results [...]
Urban Pubs and Bars defies hospitality gloom with doubling of profit February 2, 2026 One of London’s biggest pub chains has defied hospitality gloom after posting a more than doubling of profit. Urban Pubs and Bars, which operates more than fifty venues across the capital including The Wren in Bank, the Commercial Tavern in Spitalfields and the Punch Tavern in Fleet Street, saw pre-trax profit climb to £1.7m for [...]
CBI board member Peter Hogg to lead Arcadis’ UK and Ireland business February 2, 2026 The CBI’s senior council chair, Peter Hogg, has been appointed as Arcadis’ country director for the UK and Ireland, Morning Wire can reveal. Hogg is a 28-year veteran of the global design and consultancy firm and will succeed Simon Bimpson, with a focus on leveraging Arcadis’ position in sustainable design to deliver infrastructure that improves [...]
Mandelson to Epstein: JP Morgan should ‘threaten’ UK over banker tax February 2, 2026 Lord Peter Mandelson told Jeffrey Epstein that the boss of banking giant JP Morgan should “mildly threaten” the UK Treasury over a tax on banker bonuses whilst the peer was serving as business secretary. New bombshell revelations in the latest drop of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice showed Mandelson, who worked [...]
Hundreds of Treasury jobs at risk in civil servant cost-cutting shakeup February 2, 2026 Rachel Reeves wants to slash about 300 of her department’s roughly 2,100 staff by 2030, as HM Treasury plans to offer officials up to £100,000 to take voluntary leave.The proposed cuts to the Treasury are part of a wider drive to reduce Whitehall’s administrative costs by 16 per cent, according to the Financial Times. The [...]