Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is celebrating what it calls a “green signal for competition” after the UK rail regulator confirmed that there is enough capacity at Eurostar’s London maintenance depot to support rival high-speed train services through the Channel Tunnel. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) announced that the Temple Mills depot in […]
Aston Martin Lagonda has secured a fresh £125 million capital injection as executive chairman Lawrence Stroll and his Yew Tree Consortium deepen their financial backing of the iconic but loss-making British carmaker. The latest round of fundraising comes from two sources: the £74 million sale of Aston Martin’s stake in Stroll’s privately owned Formula 1 […]
Small businesses across the UK are being given the chance to pitch for a share of £1 million in funding as NatWest launches its Accelerator Pitch competition to celebrate ten years of its free NatWest Accelerator programme. The initiative invites ambitious entrepreneurs to submit a 60-second video pitch explaining how funding would help their business […]
Keir Starmer is under growing pressure from senior UK and EU figures to take a tougher stance against Donald Trump, as fears escalate that the US president is preparing to impose sweeping tariffs on British exports — a move that could spark a global trade war and severely damage the UK economy. British officials in […]
Campaigners are urging UK police forces to take a far tougher stance on fraudsters, warning that scams have become a “penalty-free crime” amid a surge in reported fraud and high-profile global investigations. The call to action comes just days after the government announced it is working on an expanded fraud strategy in response to a […]
Technology entrepreneur Tom Adeyoola has been named as the government’s preferred candidate to head Innovate UK, the country’s £1.1 billion-a-year innovation agency, at a pivotal moment for the organisation. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology confirmed that Adeyoola, 47, is in line to replace Indro Mukerjee in the £195,000-a-year role. The appointment comes as […]
Frasers Group has voted to block Boohoo’s attempt to change its holding company name to Debenhams, escalating a long-running feud between the UK retail giants. The move, led by Mike Ashley’s group, which owns a 27 per cent stake in Boohoo, effectively prevented the resolution from passing at a general meeting on Friday. The motion […]
The UK’s £8 billion-a-year R&D tax credit scheme is facing a major shake-up as the government moves to tackle widespread fraud and error while improving accessibility for genuine claimants. Proposals outlined in a consultation published alongside the Spring Statement suggest that businesses may soon be required to obtain formal pre-approval — or “advance assurance” — […]
Apprenticeship and workplace training provider Multiverse has posted a 29 per cent rise in sales to £58.4 million for the year ending March 2024, but its losses also deepened, underscoring the high cost of its rapid expansion. Founded by Euan Blair, son of former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, the company reported pre-tax losses of […]
Elon Musk has announced an $80 billion merger of his artificial intelligence venture xAI with social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in a move he claims will “unlock immense potential” by combining AI capabilities with real-time user interaction. The non-cash transaction values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion — or $45 billion […]