EY and London managing partner fined over £1.3m for audit failure July 28, 2026 Big Four giant EY and its London office managing partner have been hit with a nearly £1.3m fine by the financial watchdog for audit failings related to retailer Made.com in 2021. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said the sanction follows an investigation into Julie Carlyle, who manages the City office and a portfolio of many [...]
Barclays profit surges as equity traders cash in on volatility July 28, 2026 Barclays profit surged ahead of expectations in the second quarter of the year as market turmoil fuelled a bumper performance in its equity trading division. The FTSE 100 giant revealed it would launch a new £1bn share buyback after pre-tax profit jumped 17 per cent from the prior year to £6.1bn across the first half [...]
Unilever turns to ‘avocado mayonnaise’ as food weighs on profit ahead of spin-off July 28, 2026 Unilever has turned to novel products including “avocado mayonnaise” in a bid to boost ailing sales in its food arm, which is poised to be spun off in a £33bn deal. The consumer goods giant upgraded its sales expectations but saw the performance of its food business and European operations drag on the group’s operating [...]
Barry Hearn on Brentwood Town investment: ‘I’m a tight bastard but I’m a believer’ July 28, 2026 Matchroom president Barry Hearn on why he has returned to football with Brentwood Town FC, aiming for promotion to the English Football League and educating the council on the club’s need to buy its stadium. Barry Hearn doesn’t miss a beat when asked if he has missed football since selling Leyton Orient more than a [...]
Number of British millionaires sinks to lowest level since financial crisis July 28, 2026 The number of millionaires in Britain has sunk to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis as rich residents flee the country due to punishingly high levels of tax and the removal of non-dom status, a fresh study has claimed. Some 442,000 millionaires were listed as residents in Britain in 2025, a seven per [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops; Unilever shares soar on decade-best sales July 28, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Tuesday and the UK’s blue-chip index has made strong gains following a peaky start to the day. The markets took a boost yesterday after oil dropped back after reaching two-month highs of more than $100 per barrel last week when the Iran backed-Houthis took responsibility for tanker [...]
Burnham won’t be bold enough to make devolution shift the dial on growth July 28, 2026 Within a year of Cornwall abolishing the 45p additional rate of income tax and reducing corporation tax to 15 per cent, hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses, including dozens of major financial and professional services firms, had relocated to the county. The influx of private sector dynamism delivered an astonishing economic boost to a region that [...]
Exclusive: Wimbledon chiefs ready to defend brand amid Saudi tennis complex similarities July 28, 2026 Wimbledon chiefs stand ready to defend its distinctive green and purple branding after plans emerged for a Saudi tennis mega-complex with a similar colourway. Renders for a National Tennis Centre in Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya giga-project were released in June, showing a central court draped in foliage and 29 other courts decked out in a purple [...]
‘Moron premium’ – Westminster turmoil has ‘cost taxpayers £35bn’ since 2022 July 28, 2026 Secretive plotters and vengeful strategists in Westminster have cost taxpayers around £35bn since 2020, new research by one of the world’s top insurance companies has found. In a study into the costs of political fragility facing European governments, researchers at Allianz Trade found that the UK government continued to pay a “distinct political premium” due [...]
Ban foreign stocks from Isa wrapper, says top pensions boss July 28, 2026 The tax-free wrapper on a stocks and shares Isa should be restricted to investments in UK assets, according to the chair of a top pension fund who also called for an inheritance tax carve-out for retail investors who buy government bonds. Speaking at an event, Standard Life chair Nicholas Lyons argued limiting the tax incentive [...]