Toyota warns of ‘challenging road ahead’ after profit falls £100m December 3, 2025 The UK manufacturing arm of Toyota has warned “the road ahead may be challenging” after its profit slumped by more than £100m during its latest financial year. The division of the Japanese giant said the “uncertainties of the automotive industry and infrastructure to support vehicle type” were the main factors behind its pessimism. However, Toyota [...]
Powervault: London Mayor-backed Tesla battery rival collapses December 3, 2025 Battery storage firm Powervault, which had been tipped to become the UK rival to Tesla, has collapsed into administration, Morning Wire can reveal. The London-based company, which had been backed by the Mayor of London’s Greater London Investment Fund as well as the British Business Bank, has appointed administrators Menzies to oversee its wind-down, according [...]
FCA chief ducks committing to investigating Treasury briefings December 3, 2025 The boss of the City watchdog appeared to skirt committing to investigating Treasury briefings when pressed on the Labour government’s “possible market abuse” on Wednesday morning. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, has been lobbied by the Conservatives and other opponents to the Labour government to look into the rogue briefings on [...]
London’s South Bank beefs up leadership team December 3, 2025 South Bank Employers’ Group (SBEG) has welcomed five new appointments to its board amid a modernisation drive. The not-for-profit membership organisation, which was founded in 1991, said it marked the end of a major governance review and the start of a “smaller, more agile board”. Chief executive Nic Durston said SBEG has “transformed the way [...]
Why Britain is a nation of bad sports investors December 3, 2025 Britain loves sport, but our approach to funding it is fundamentally flawed. We spend heavily on pitches, clubs and community programmes, yet much of that money vanishes into a black hole of short-term fixes. Simply put, we are bad sports investors because we treat funding as charity rather than a catalyst for growth. It’s not [...]
Record £60m day at Tattersalls December Mares Sale December 3, 2025 Sales totalling £60m saw the Tattersalls December Mares Sale break the European auction record for the highest grossing day of horse sales. Barnavara became the highest priced filly in the world this year when Sugar Whiskey Trading beat off rivals to realise a winning bid of 4.8m guineas (£5m), while Porta Fortuna was sold to [...]
The 68p lawsuit that threatened to upend the British bond market December 3, 2025 In 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority set out to modernise the bond market. A noble ambition. But as many seasoned City execs will tell you, noble ambitions from regulators don’t always work out how they were intended. The FCA proposed to introduce what’s known in industry jargon as a consolidated tape – a system which [...]
Whitehall was ‘shambolic’ in dealing with collapsed China spy case December 3, 2025 Whitehall officials presided over “shambolic” proceedings in the prosecution of two alleged Chinese spies, a report has suggested, with both government officials and prosecutors coming under fire over the collapse of the case. A report by parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said the collapse of the prosecution against former parliamentary researcher Christopher [...]
HSBC taps KPMG veteran Brendan Nelson to chair banking giant December 3, 2025 Europe’s biggest lender, HSBC, has named a new chair following its tumultuous recruitment programme after the departure of Sir Mark Tucker. HSBC tapped KPMG veteran Brendan Nelson, who has also served on the boards of BP and Royal Bank of Scotland, as its new chair. Nelson joined the banking giant’s board in 2023 and has served [...]
City watchdog to lift motor finance complaints pause earlier than expected December 3, 2025 The City watchdog has lifted the cap on motor finance complaints following the landmark ruling from the Supreme Court over the summer. The Financial Conduct Authority said it would ditch the pause on complaints from 31 May 2026 – two months ahead of plan. In a letter sent to banking bosses, the FCA has also [...]