Valentino proves AI has no place in advertising December 2, 2025 Italian fashion house Valentino has received mounting backlash after posting a series of AI-generated adverts on Instagram. What was billed as a ‘digital creative project’ instead set off a minor revolt in its comments section, where followers lined up to dub the visuals as “cheap”, “tacky”, “lazy”, and perhaps the most cutting barb for a [...]
ITV launches £80m bid for rugby’s Nations Championship December 2, 2025 Rugby union’s inaugural Nations Championship looks set to be shown on free-to-air television after ITV bid more than £80m. If successful, every Six Nations match and Nations Championship fixture will be terrestrial TV in the UK until at least 2029. The broadcaster has been in competition with TNT Sports, the early favourites to land the [...]
Boxing day bounce set to kick-start housing market December 2, 2025 A traditional jump in Brits looking for properties at Christmas is set to boost the UK’s housing market after a slow Autumn. With families gathered, people considering their new year’s housing ambitions, and extra downtime leading to browsing on phones and laptops, estate and letting agents are consistently reporting an uplift in enquiries, according to [...]
Physician associates union: BMA pay demands ‘unsustainable’ December 2, 2025 The British Medical Association’s “obsession with unsustainable pay demands” is pushing other areas of the health service to the brink, as resident doctors gear up for a third strike this year in the lead up to Christmas. According to the trade union representing physician associates, a range of more junior medical staff are being effectively [...]
Natwest chief: UK ‘closer to start than finish line’ on regulation mission December 2, 2025 The government’s mission to overhaul regulation still has a long distance to go, the boss of Natwest has said, as he warned of “trade-offs” in the pursuit of cutting red tape. Paul Thwaite, the chief executive of Natwest, praised the government and the City watchdog in edging forward in its regulation mission, referencing recent changes [...]
JP Jenkins allows investment firm to take advantage of Pisces licence December 2, 2025 The new Pisces market today took a step closer to coming to fruition after prospective operator JP Jenkins unveiled a new partnership with Belfast based investment firm Sapphire Capital Partners, allowing it to take advantage of the trading venue. The online securities venue secured its licence from the Financial Conduct Authority in November, after London [...]
Hire process for Kogan to Independent Football Regulator like ‘mafia appointment’ December 2, 2025 The selection of David Kogan as chair of the Independent Football Regulator has been likened to a “mafia appointment in Sicily sometime in the 1950s” at a committee hearing in Parliament. Conservative MP Simon Hoare, chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, made the claim during a hearing discussing William Shawcross’s report into [...]
UK profit dips at BDO as partner numbers hit record December 2, 2025 Mid-market accountancy giant BDO has seen its profit slip, with the firm blaming challenging market conditions and a significant increase in partner headcount for the decline. BDO UK delivered stable revenues of just £1bn over 2025, a slight dip after becoming a £1bn-turnover firm last year. Profit per equity partner (PEP) fell over 13 per [...]
Government slashes rights to trial by jury in court shake-up December 2, 2025 Justice secretary David Lammy has confirmed his controversial plans to scrap some jury trials to tackle the nearly 80,000 criminal cases backlog. Speaking in the House of Commons, after a week of outrage following a leak of the plan, Lammy told MPs that he will “follow Sir Brian [Leveson]’s bold blueprint for change”, by creating [...]
Bidvest directors suffer shareholder revolt over $59,000 Olympics expenses claim December 2, 2025 Three directors of Bidvest Group Ltd, South Africa’s largest conglomerate, have suffered a shareholder revolt over $59,000 of expenses they claimed for attending the Paris 2024 Olympics. The international services, trading and distribution company noted in a stock exchange statement this week that shareholders had rejected calls to reimburse the chairman and two non-executive directors [...]
