Sterling endured its sharpest three-day decline in almost two years this morning, as investors continued to offload UK government debt and flock to the US dollar. By early trading, the pound had slipped 0.9 per cent against the dollar to $1.226, briefly touching its lowest level since November 2023. The currency has weakened by 2 […]
Kevin O’Leary, famed for his role as “Mr Wonderful” on the American series Shark Tank, has revealed plans to join billionaire Frank McCourt’s consortium in a high-stakes effort to acquire TikTok. The move comes amid growing pressure on the Chinese-owned video platform, which could be banned in the United States if its parent company ByteDance […]
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is preparing to lead a team of ministers and advisers to the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, aiming to attract international backers and calm disquiet among domestic businesses. Reeves, who attended Davos as shadow chancellor for the previous two years, is scheduled to meet sovereign wealth funds and US private […]
A company director who “repeatedly subverted the insolvency system” by facilitating debt-dumping arrangements for struggling businesses has been banned from running firms for nine years, following a government investigation. Neville Taylor, 57, served as a director of more than 400 companies and received close to £270,000 from Atherton Corporate, operators of a scheme that took […]
Hundreds of current and former McDonald’s employees – some as young as 19 – have joined a legal action against the fast-food giant over allegations of bullying, sexual abuse and harassment across more than 450 UK outlets. The complaint, filed through law firm Leigh Day, follows a fresh wave of accusations highlighted by a BBC […]
Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has confirmed he is weighing up a bid to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister. Trudeau announced on Monday that he would step down after nearly a decade in office, prompting the Liberal party to scramble for a new leader ahead of an impending […]
Britain’s retailers have suffered another blow after budget-conscious consumers reined in their Christmas spending, disappointing hopes of a bumper festive season and leaving the “golden quarter” with only muted growth. Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor show that total sales rose by just 0.4 per cent over the three months to […]
Quintessentially, the concierge service co-founded by Sir Ben Elliot – nephew to the Queen Consort – has cautioned that “material uncertainty” remains over its ability to continue as a going concern, despite recording higher sales and narrowing losses in its latest financial year. Newly filed accounts for Quintessentially (UK) Limited, the holding company for much […]
Businesses shed jobs at the fastest pace in four years last month after higher employment costs and mounting uncertainty from the autumn budget dented confidence, according to the latest S&P Global data. Excluding pandemic-era figures, the decline in headcount was the sharpest in over 15 years, with nearly a quarter of firms either laying off […]
Nearly every small business in the UK is bracing for staff cutbacks in the wake of proposed employment law changes, according to a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The survey of 1,270 companies found that 92 per cent fear the new legislation will undermine hiring and expansion plans, with nearly a third […]