FTSE 100’s Intertek rejects sweetened £10bn bid from EQT May 8, 2026 Board of the testing firm unanimous is saying 5,800p price tag ‘undervalues’ the group FTSE 100 constituent Intertek has rejected the latest bid for the testing company from Swedish private equity firm EQT, saying the £10bn, 5,800p-per-share offer “significantly undervalues” the group. Friday’s rebuttal was the third consecutive knock-back, following previous cash offers at 5,150p [...]
Rightmove reveals fixed-rate mortgages back over 5 per cent as house prices slip again May 8, 2026 Average house price down to to £299,313 in April from £299,609 the month before A closely-watched survey from one of the UK’s biggest home loan providers has found that house prices slipped again last month. The Halifax said the prospect of higher bills at a time of rising inflation was a factor in the market. [...]
Brent Hoberman: We need a ‘British dream’ – and more talented immigrants May 7, 2026 The UK needs to welcome many more business founders from abroad to rejuvenate the economy, one of Britain’s best-known entrepreneurs has said, as he issued a rallying cry to renew faith in the future of the country. In a wide-ranging speech at the Morning Wire Awards ceremony at the Guildhall last night, Brent Hoberman, who [...]
Tony Travers: London local election result could trigger housebuilding slump May 7, 2026 The result of the forthcoming local elections could trigger a further slump in housebuilding in the capital as a shake-up in council composition obstructs development plans. Voters head to the polls in every London borough today, with polling suggesting Labour is on course to shed dozens of seats and lose its grip on the capital, [...]
No, a pint does not cost £10 in London (see for yourself) May 7, 2026 Headlines appeared over the weekend that a London pint now costs £10. This leaves a bitter taste. Granted, look hard enough and you’ll find a private members’ club here, a chichi restaurant there, that has found customers with deep enough pockets to pay a fortune for supermarket lager. But this has always been true – [...]
UK investors return to equities after 10 month selling stint May 7, 2026 UK investors ended an equity inflow drought in April, bringing an end to a 10-month-long selling spree. UK investors added £1.1bn in equity funds last month, according to the latest fund flow index from Calastone, marking the best month of inflows since April 2025. But flows were concentrated, with investors opting to commit capital to [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
This accidental Finnish defence startup can teach the UK some lessons May 7, 2026 The UK is home to some of the world's most significant defence companies, but also its most inefficient procurement systems, writes Eliot Wilson.
Why democracy needs the rich May 7, 2026 A new book argues that, in a democracy, an intellectual class that holds homogeneous, anti-capitalist views demands a counterweight of the wealthy contributing to politics, says Rainer Zitelmann In 2021 and 2022, a representative survey on attitudes toward the market economy and capitalism was conducted in 34 countries. Among other things, respondents were presented with [...]
The Morning Wire Awards: Three cheers for these business heroes May 7, 2026 A little over 20 years ago, as Morning Wire prepared to hit the streets for the very first time, the team was clear that a bit of positivity needed to be baked into its founding ethos. This has never meant shying away from difficult conversations or sanitising the news agenda, but it has meant that [...]