What can the Rugby World Cup learn from US nailing of Fifa World Cup? July 17, 2026 With a United States Rugby World Cup just five years away, Ollie Phillips asks what can the sport learn from the Fifa World Cup. Sitting here in the UK looking across the Atlantic to a World Cup mainly staged in the United States, it is difficult not to get just a little bit excited about [...]
IMF warns Bank of England against cutting interest rates July 17, 2026 The Bank of England must keep interest rates on hold for as long as risks from the Iran war persist, the International Monetary Fund has said. In its annual temperature check of Britain’s economic outlook, the fund warned rate setters to keep monetary policy “sufficiently restrictive” to avoid sparking a painful bout of inflation that [...]
City sizes up mystery Mahmood July 17, 2026 Executives and business groups have begun sizing up Shabana Mahmood and her past policy positions as they search for ways to engage the woman tipped to become Andy Burnham’s Chancellor next week. The emergence of Mahmood, who hails from the right of the party and cracked down on immigration in her role as home secretary, [...]
Tiktok ‘confident’ ahead of Ofcom child safety probe July 16, 2026 Tiktok has insisted it is “confident” it complies with the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) after Ofcom launched an investigation into whether the platform is doing enough to stop children accessing harmful content. The watchdog is looking into whether Tiktok’s age verifictions meet the legal requirement to be “highly effective” at identifying child users after [...]
World Cup demand pushes price of private jet charters up 30 per cent July 16, 2026 The price of chartering a private jet between some US cities has surged by up to 30 per cent due to “exceptionally strong demand” during the World Cup. Corporate groups, wealthy football fans and syndicates of supporters travelling together have turned to private charters in increasing numbers to navigate the biggest and most geographically dispersed [...]
Burnham set for crunch decision on JP Morgan’s £10bn tower July 16, 2026 Andy Burnham’s government will face a crunch decision on the future of JP Morgan’s flagship tower in Canary Wharf as it weighs whether to uphold a major tax break for the project despite opposition from industry groups. The next Chancellor will serve as the final arbiter on the framework of a business rates exemption for [...]
Frasers slams ‘nonsense rumours’ over Harvey Nichols bid July 16, 2026 The boss of Frasers has hit back at “nonsense rumours” that retail brands are reluctant to work with the group, which is known for making aggressive plays to take control of rival companies. The group, which owns Sports Direct and Flannels, gatecrashed the auction to buy luxury department store Harvey Nichols last week, despite some [...]
What a room full of the Indian diaspora’s biggest names revealed about Britain’s AI opportunity July 16, 2026 This week an Indiaspora dinner chaired by Tony Matharu, founder and Chairman of Integrity International Group and Central London Alliance CIC at The Skyline London, located in Tower Suites, brought together forty of the most accomplished business leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers of Indian origin working across Britain today. With the Indian diaspora creating a global [...]
England semi pulls in 24m on BBC but falls short of Euros final July 16, 2026 BBC coverage of England getting dumped out of the World Cup broke 2026 records but fell short of other football matches in historical rankings. Around 24m watched Argentina’s late 2-1 win in Atlanta, making the match the most-watched live television moment of the year. The broadcast averaged 22.1m viewers on the BBC with the channel’s [...]
CFIT CEO: There’s still not enough diversity in the City July 16, 2026 Anna Wallace, CEO of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology, gives us her views on the City in Square Mile and Me.