With the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities approaching on 3 December, new findings suggest that while UK employers overwhelmingly want to hire more disabled staff, many lack the confidence, tools or understanding to do so. Almost one in four working-age adults in the UK has a disability – a figure that continues to rise. Yet disabled people still face stark inequalities in the labour market. The recent Keep Britain Working review, led by...
For a quarter of a century, Russell Wardrop has been in the same line of work—creating rainmakers. As co‑founder and chief executive of KWC Global, based in Glasgow and London, Wardrop has made a career of helping lawyers, accountants and financiers learn the commercial skills business school often forgets: how to sell, lead and grow. His thesis is disarmingly simple: if learning and development is designed correctly and linked to tangible outcomes, it stops being...
JP Morgan Chase has announced plans to build a new £3 billion, 3 million sq ft tower in Canary Wharf — one of the largest office developments in Europe — in a move hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a “multibillion-pound vote of confidence” in the UK economy. The new skyscraper will become the bank’s principal UK headquarters, housing 12,000 staff and surpassing 22 Bishopsgate to become the largest office building in Britain. Designed by...
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle have warned the UK’s major telecoms companies that they must do more to protect customers from unexpected mid-contract price rises, urging the sector to improve transparency and treat consumers “fairly and consistently”. In a joint letter sent to mobile and broadband CEOs, the ministers said too many customers still face confusing or unclear pricing mechanisms and called on providers to reaffirm that no customer under contract should...
Revolut has overtaken Barclays in valuation after securing a $75 billion price tag in a major secondary share sale backed by Nvidia, cementing its position as Europe’s most valuable private tech company and the standout success story of Britain’s fintech sector. The deal — largely involving staff selling portions of their holdings — marks a dramatic jump from Revolut’s $45 billion valuation last year. It now exceeds the market capitalisation of Barclays (£55.7bn / $73bn),...
The government has dropped its flagship plan to give workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from day one, abandoning a key Labour manifesto pledge after an intense backlash from employers and a parliamentary standoff in the House of Lords. Instead, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will be set at six months, following two days of negotiations between government ministers, trade unions and business groups. The compromise is designed to ensure the Employment...
The Isle of Man is issuing an international call to tech entrepreneurs, startups and established digital health companies as it launches its 2026 Innovation Challenge, this year focused entirely on transforming the Island’s health and social care system. After three years centring on FinTech, Cleantech and Data & AI, the government is redirecting the Challenge towards one of the nation’s most urgent pressures: meeting rising healthcare demand, tackling workforce shortages and advancing more integrated, patient-centred...
Rachel Reeves is facing fresh criticism from senior business leaders after John Roberts, chief executive of online electricals retailer AO World, described her Budget as “tone deaf” and “a bit pathetic”, accusing the Chancellor of lacking any real understanding of business or entrepreneurship. Speaking to Times Radio, Roberts said he was left “pretty speechless” by Reeves’ comments about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs. “She has absolutely no appreciation of business and doesn’t seem interested in...
The head of William Hill’s parent company has warned that thousands of UK jobs are now at risk, after the Chancellor announced a sharp rise in gambling taxes that will almost double the levy paid on online gaming. Shares in Evoke, which owns William Hill, fell by up to 8% to a record low following Rachel Reeves’s decision to increase the online gaming duty from 21% to 40%, in one of the steepest tax hikes...
The scandal around the Energoatom case and the “Mindich recordings” – named after Timur Mindich, a close associate of Volodymyr Zelensky and a central figure in a major corruption affair in Ukraine’s energy sector involving 100 million dollars in kickbacks – has shown how the Ukrainian authorities have turned access to public contracts into a mechanism of extortion: to take part in tenders, companies are expected to pay a 10–15% “entrance fee”. In this context,...
