Second time lucky for Lucy Rigby? July 29, 2026 The Square Mile has welcomed its fifth City minister in two years and a familiar face is back in the hot seat- but can she deliver? Few tears were shed in the City when it became clear that Rachel Reeves would be out of Number 11 Downing Street. Yet the surprise return of her erstwhile [...]
Keep your politics out of your investments July 28, 2026 I keep telling everyone that you should keep your politics out of your investment portfolio. The market doesn’t care about your politics. That is why I am against ESG investors that exclude certain industries from their portfolio, just like conservative investors who think climate change is a hoax and don’t invest in wind and solar [...]
AI Minister: Visa reform key to keeping tech giants in Britain July 27, 2026 AI Minister Kanishka Narayan renewed calls for more visas for top engineers, arguing that the UK will need to do more to help tech companies scale at home rather than sell overseas. In his first interview since joining Andy Burnham’s cabinet, Narayan said he would use his seat at the top table to push for [...]
FTSE 100 firm agrees £5.7bn takeover in latest private equity swoop July 27, 2026 FTSE 100 energy group DCC has agreed to a £5.75bn takeover by a group of private equity firms in another blow to the London Stock Exchange after a flurry of takeovers this year. US private equity firm KKR and Energy Capital Partners, a subsidiary of London-listed Bridgepoint, said this morning they would pay a total [...]
Big Four’s AIM exodus accelerates as mid-tier firms seize mandates July 27, 2026 Mid-tier audit firms scooped up new clients as the Big Four giants executed an intentional retreat from London’s junior market. Three years ago, PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG audited nearly half of the FTSE Alternative Investment Market (AIM) 100 index with 49 clients combined. But today, the market share has collapsed to 30 clients, according [...]
Wise denied US banking licence in blow to expansion plans July 24, 2026 Shares in Wise plunged on Friday after the firm was denied a US banking licence by regulators, setting back the payments giant in its biggest growth market just months after it switched its primary stock market listing to New York. The London-founded fintech said the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had [...]
Here’s how to fix London listings July 23, 2026 We need a whole of government effort to halt Britain’s companies falling prey to overseas bids, says Andrew Griffith Mitie’s takeover by rival facilities management group OCS marks the London Stock Exchange’s eleventh £1bn takeover so far this year. That’s before the Prologis bid for Segro. The cry will go up about the London Stock [...]
Roasting heat putting Brits off roasts, warns Toby Carvery owner July 23, 2026 The sweltering summer heat has put Brits off their roasts, one of the UK’s biggest pub companies has warned, after the country set a fresh June temperature record. The owner of Toby Carvery, which offers year-round roast dinners and has more than 100 sites across the country, reported a 2.4 per cent drop in food [...]
BT braces for loss of 800,000 customers as it banks on fibre to keep turnaround ‘on track’ July 23, 2026 BT stuck to its cash targets despite another quarter of flat sales and falling profit, as the telecoms giant pointed to growing demand for its fibre network. The FTSE 100 firm held guidance for around £2bn of free cash flow this year after revenue edged little changed to £4.3bn in the first quarter. Pre-tax profit [...]
City law firms considering corporate-style models amid capital crunch July 23, 2026 Artificial intelligence investment may force top City firms to abandon the traditional limited liability partnership (LLP) mindset and behave like capital‑hungry corporates, a top legal finance firm has predicted. Speaking to Morning Wire, Burford Capital’s chief operating officer, Travis Lenkner, and vice president, Patrick Savage, said City law firms that would never traditionally sell a controlling [...]