Reeves rent freeze proposal dubbed ‘disaster’ for renters and landlords April 28, 2026 Rachel Reeves has fuelled rumours she is considering a rent freeze as leading economists said the policy would be a “disaster” for renters and landlords. Addressing the Commons on Tuesday afternoon, the Chancellor was asked by a Labour MP to implement a freeze on private rents. “I will do everything in my power and use [...]
WPP sales down again despite uptick in new business April 28, 2026 WPP saw its revenue fall by more than six per cent in the first three months of 2026, piling pressure on the advertising giant’s turnaround plan just two months after it was unveiled. The FTSE 250 holding group saw its sales fall by 6.6 per cent to £3bn in the first quarter, while revenue less [...]
Barclays shares slide as sour loan provisions balloon to £823m April 28, 2026 Barclays made a mammoth reservation for bad loans in the first quarter led by the hostilities in the global market and a single name charge in its investment banking division. The blue-chip lender set aside £823m for potential loan losses, up from £643m in the same period last year, in a stark sign the firm [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks dip as oil edges higher; BP posts profit boom April 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Oil returned to a three-week high comfortably over the $105 mark on Monday and those gains look set to continue today. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – edged over $110 on Tuesday morning as it once again appeared peace talks in [...]
Meet the startup backed by Peter Thiel that wants to ‘hold journalists to account’ April 28, 2026 Founder Aron D’Souza spoke to Maria Ward-Brennan about his Peter Thiel-backed startup, which aims to hold journalists accountable by providing real-time ratings and investigations into their reporting practices. There exists a lively debate about the extent to which AI could replace journalists, but before it does that – could it develop a hold over the [...]
Global infrastructure spending to surpass $150 trillion by 2050 April 28, 2026 Global infrastructure spending is projected to surpass $150 trillion through 2050, as countries look to modernise systems to meet growing AI and electrification demands. Annual global infrastructure spending is forecast to climb from $4.4 trillion (£3.2 trillion) in 2024 to $6.9 trillion in 2050, ultimately driving investment of $151.1 trillion, according to the latest findings [...]
King’s Cross puts London on the AI map April 28, 2026 A description of King’s Cross a little over 20 years ago sounds like something from a Dickens novel. It was “a place of decay, dereliction, crime and filth” – known for drugs and prostitution. Some readers may remember its rave scene but for most people it was a no-go area. That opening description comes from [...]
Big Four giant EY set to bolster AI recruitment April 28, 2026 Big Four giant EY is moving to hire a new team of senior AI recruits across the UK and Ireland to work directly with clients, in a push to meet “growing demand” to use tech across the board. EY said the new hires, known as ‘forward deployed engineers’, will be working within client teams at [...]
Unilever gets Marmite reaction to McCormick deal as investor fury spreads April 28, 2026 Unilever is facing a mounting investor backlash over its recent multibillion-pound tie-up with US food giant McCormick, with shareholders accusing the consumer goods behemoth of rushing the deal through without a vote and loading the new vehicle up with too much debt. Shareholders in the FTSE-100 conglomerate told Morning Wire that they were supportive overall [...]
A.Gain: the owners of Atletico Madrid and Leeds United that you’ve never heard of April 28, 2026 A.Gain owns chunks of Leeds United and Atletico Madrid and has just launched a $150m fund to accelerate its take on multi-club ownership. These are heady days for Bobby Aitkenhead, a former college basketball player who also represented his native Guatemala. He is co-founder and one of the managing partners of A.Gain’s sports fund, which [...]