Top foreign policy analyst and Tory councillor jumps ship to Reform November 19, 2025 Reform UK has lured a leading security and foreign policy analyst from the Conservatives to provide advice to the party and its leader, Nigel Farage, in what appears to be Reform’s latest move aimed at professionalising party operations. Dr Alan Mendoza, who heads up the Henry Jackson Society, a trans-Atlantic foreign affairs and security think [...]
Overseas investors return to London’s offices November 19, 2025 Real estate investment in London has risen for the second year in a row as appetite for the capital’s assets returns, according to a new report. Total investment is set to top £14bn in 2025, below the 10-year average of £18.1bn but significantly higher than in 2023 and 2024, according to a new report by [...]
Lloyds to acquire London fintech in bid to grow digital offerings November 19, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group is acquiring London based fintech Curve, as it looks to boost its digital offerings and compete against popular challenger banks. Curve, which was founded in 2015, operates as a digital payment wallet which combines all debit and credit cards alongside alternative payment sources, such as cryptocurrency, onto a single platform. The platform [...]
Knife edge: Hospitality calls on government to serve up change November 19, 2025 Industry insiders – from chefs to independent brands – are calling on the Chancellor to provide real support in next week’s Budget, writes Carys Sharkey “I’d rate it one out of 10. Frankly, it’s been negligible”. Ask any chef across the country how they would rate this government’s support for the hospitality sector and you’ll [...]
UK spinout economy could be Reeves’ next growth lever November 19, 2025 As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Autumn Budget, discussions of economic growth often centre on investment and fiscal levers. However, an arguably equally powerful driver of economic growth operates within the nation’s universities. Spinout ventures are turning ideas into viable businesses, attracting investment, generating high-skilled jobs and developing technologies with global reach. In [...]
etn: Meet Europe’s answer to the live tech pod November 19, 2025 As the podcast market continues to gain traction and the tech sector swells, two young London-based operators, former startup operator Ronan Chambers and ex-investment associate Luke Knight, have launched a counter-offensive. Their venture, the European Technology Network (etn), takes the form of a live-streaming video podcast, built as the continent’s answer to the new media [...]
MasterChef maker suffers £10m hit amid Greg Wallace scandal November 19, 2025 Turnover at the maker of MasterChef slumped to its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic as the Greg Wallace scandal became public, it has been revealed. Wallace announced he was stepping away from the hit BBC show in November 2024 after an investigations into allegations from 13 individuals was launched. The allegations, which spanned 17 [...]
Jet2 shares soar as Tiktok meme pays dividends November 19, 2025 Jet2 has seen its shares jump after a viral TikTok trend helped the London-listed airline see record passenger numbers over the summer. The London-listed business said it saw an increase of 750,000 passengers flown to 14m over the six months to the end of September. That helped group revenue rise 5 per cent to £5.3bn. Jet2 [...]
Inflation stays high in pre-Budget warning to Reeves November 19, 2025 Inflation hit 3.6 per cent in the year to October, it has been revealed, in the last set of prices data Chancellor Rachel Reeves will see before a crucial Budget focused on curbing the cost of living. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said inflation cooled slightly from last month’s figure of 3.8 per cent, [...]
WH Smith chief executive quits after damning Deloitte audit report November 19, 2025 The boss of one of Britain’s best-known retailers has quit the role after an investigation into the firm’s accounting practices uncovered major flaws. WH Smith chief executive Carl Cowling said he would step down with immediate effect on Wednesday after the report, produced by Big-Four audit firm Deloitte identified weaknesses in the operations of the [...]
