Barratt Redrow and MJ Gleeson join house builder call for help: What is going on? February 11, 2026 Over the past few months, a number of house builders have called for help, after positive results were offset by the expectation that the state of the housing market would impact further growth. The builders have chorused the same warning to the government and wider property sector that further buyer recovery and support is needed [...]
Financial Reporting Council chair Sir Jan du Plessis to retire February 11, 2026 The chair of the audit watchdog, Sir Jan du Plessis, has announced his intention to step down from the role at the end of September, when he will retire from corporate and public life. Over his career, the businessman has served as non-executive chairman of BT Group, non-executive chairman of Rio Tinto Group, and as [...]
Thomas Frank sacked: Tottenham count cost of £6.7m compensation payout February 11, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Thomas Frank less than eight months after paying £6.7m in compensation to poach him from Premier League rivals Brentford. Frank’s departure comes after Spurs lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle on Tuesday night, a result that left them just two places and five points above the relegation zone. The compensation [...]
Lib Dems would scrap Treasury for ‘Department for Growth’ February 11, 2026 The Liberal Democrats have laid out plans to scrap the Treasury department if elected in favour of a ‘Department for Growth’. Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader and Treasury spokeswoman, said on Wednesday took aim at failed government economic policy and said the Treasury “does too much”. “Fiscal policy, economic policy and controlling government spending. [...]
Activist investor Elliott builds up stake in LSEG February 11, 2026 Activist investor Elliott Management has built a significant stake in the London Stock Exchange Group as it looks to engineer a turnaround for the stock exchange operator. The hedge fund has been holding conversations with David Schwimmer, LSEG’s chief executive, according to a report in the Financial Times. The size of the stake could not [...]
Will Alphabet’s century bond start a new trend? A brief history February 11, 2026 This week Google owner Alphabet raised £1bn in a highly unusual century bond, in a sign of the extreme lengths tech firms are willing to go to to meet the ballooning capital costs of investment in AI. The 100 year sterling note formed part of a $32bn debt raise for Alphabet, following similar moves from [...]
Global Counsel loses more clients as Epstein scandal deepens February 11, 2026 The crisis engulfing the lobbying firm founded by Peter Mandelson, Global Counsel, deepened on Tuesday, after three more of its blue-chip clients parted ways with the advisory over its links to co-founder Mandelson and the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Morning Wire understands that pensions giant Phoenix, Tesco and Bank of America have all severed [...]
Heathrow warns on losing European crown without expansion February 11, 2026 Heathrow Airport has kicked off the new year with a shattering of its previous traffic record but has offered a stark warning it could lose its crown without progress on expansion. Some 6.5m passengers travelled through the airport in January, marking a 2.2 per cent increase on last year and making it the busiest January [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Heathrow traffic record; Homebuilders call for help February 11, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Yesterday the FTSE 100 retreated on a slew of miserable corporate news. Leading the blue-chip index’s downturn was BP, which announced it would suspend its share buyback programme and increase cost-cutting goals as it looks to reverse its fortunes in the next financial year. The [...]
UK AI plans fall short without backing home firms, warns UKAI February 11, 2026 The UK’s ‘sovereign AI’ push risks becoming a missed opportunity unless government policy does more to back UK businesses at home, according to the head of Britain’s AI trade body. Speaking after a parliamentary roundtable in the House of Lords, Tim Flagg, UKAI boss, said the debate around sovereign AI should focus on growth and [...]