Royal Mail slapped with £21m Ofcom fine for late deliveries October 15, 2025 Royal Mail has once again been hit with a huge fine for failing to meet its delivery targets. Regulator Ofcom has handed Britain’s postal service a £21m fine after only 77 per cent of first class and 92.5 per cent of second class mail was delivered on time, well short of the 93 per cent [...]
Scotch Whisky Association calls for spirits duty freeze as industry headwinds grow October 15, 2025 The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has urged the UK Government to impose a multi-year freeze on spirits duty, warning that continued inaction threatens jobs, investment and Treasury revenues. In a submission ahead of the autumn Budget, the trade body stated that recent duty increases had cost the Treasury £700m while placing a £12 tax burden [...]
US-China tensions heat up as Trump threatens to block cooking oil imports October 15, 2025 Donald Trump has threatened to cut off all imports of cooking oil from China, in another escalation of the war of words over trade between the world’s two largest economies. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the latest trade tussle with China over soybeans represents “an Economically Hostile Act”. He [...]
Salesforce cosies up to OpenAI and Anthropic amid sluggish sales October 15, 2025 Software giant Salesforce is doubling down on its partnerships with AI heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic to bolster its flagship AI platform, ‘agentforce 360’, as uptake remains modest. At this week’s Dreamforce conference, chief executive and co-founder Marc Benioff announced: “We’re so thrilled to have our relationship with OpenAI”. “You guys are becoming a critical part [...]
‘The AI bubble won’t pop’, says Bain & Company tech expert October 15, 2025 Despite mounting speculation of a possible ‘AI bubble‘, a senior Silicon Valley investor has told City PM that some concerns may be overblown. Anne Hoecker, Silicon Valley partner at Bain & Company and head of the company’s global tech practice, told City PM on Tuesday: “When people say a bubble, it feels like something that’s [...]
ICO fines Capita £14m after millions affected by data breach October 15, 2025 Capita has been fined £14m by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after millions were affected by its data breach. The fine follows a cyber attack in 2023 in which the personal information of 6.6m people was stolen, from pension records and staff records to the details of customers of organisations Capita supports. For some, this [...]
Salesforce rolls out new AI tools amid escalating job concerns October 15, 2025 US tech behemoth Salesforce unveiled ‘agentforce 360′ on Tuesday, its latest generative AI platform built to automate repetitive tasks, as concerns around AI’s impact on jobs continue to swirl, and the company itself navigates workforce reductions. Salesforce executives framed the platform as a way to augment rather than replace human workers, providing tools that allow [...]
Chelsea and Arsenal may face fight for Wembley relocation October 15, 2025 Chelsea and Arsenal could end up competing to play at Wembley if they pursue plans to redevelop their stadiums over the next few years. Arsenal are in the middle of a consultation process over whether to expand Emirates Stadium to as much as an 80,000 capacity, which would require the club to temporarily relocate if [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Ofcom fines Royal Mail, CMA’s vet crackdown October 15, 2025 Good morning from the City PM liveblog team. 15 months on from Labour’s stunning general election victory and a month out from its next budget, how is the City feeling about the current government? It’s safe to say that enthusiasm has waned a little since high expectations were set last year. Some City analysts are [...]
Mining has its mojo back – will London miss out? October 15, 2025 After years spent cast as the underbelly of the global economy, mining is undergoing a reputational and financial revival. Ali Lyon explores what’s behind the renaissance, and whether London risks losing its status as the industry’s spiritual home as a result. With his thick-rimmed spectacles, salt-and-pepper hair and wiry, lean build, Gustavo Pimenta is a [...]
