News

Keir Starmer is set to appoint Richard Walker, the executive chair of Iceland Foods and a former Conservative donor, to the House of Lords — marking one of the most striking political shifts in recent years for a senior UK business figure. The Guardian understands that Walker will join a cohort of around 25 new Labour peers expected to be announced later this month, giving the supermarket executive a direct platform in parliament to champion...

Every creative person has had that moment where they look at something beautifully personalized—a monogrammed cutting board, a customized metal tumbler, a sleek engraved leather wallet—and think, “I could totally make that.” Once upon a time, that idea would’ve required a workshop full of industrial tools and a level of skill that bordered on wizardry. Today? Thanks to modern laser engraving technology, that same idea can turn into a real business with surprising ease. Laser...

Some of the UK’s most prominent live-entertainment venues, including The O2, Co-op Live, Manchester Arena, the First Direct Arena in Leeds and Wembley’s SSE Arena, are bracing for some of the sharpest business-rate rises in the country after dramatic increases in their rateable values (RVs) were revealed for 2026. New analysis from global tax firm Ryan shows that almost all major arenas have seen valuations surge, in several cases more than doubling, with Wembley Arena’s...

Lando Norris has become Britain’s newest Formula One world champion after holding his nerve through a tense title decider in Abu Dhabi, securing his first championship and ending the country’s five-year wait for another motorsport hero. The 26-year-old McLaren driver, who grew up in Bristol and has long spoken of idolising Lewis Hamilton, finished third in the season finale, enough to clinch the title by just two points after a fiercely fought contest with Max...

Airbus is set to secure the long-term future of almost 3,000 UK aerospace jobs after striking a long-awaited carve-out deal from Boeing’s takeover of Spirit AeroSystems, a move that ends months of uncertainty for workers in Belfast and Prestwick. Sources say the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer will announce as early as Monday that it is taking on 1,550 staff at Spirit’s Belfast operations and a further 1,200 at the company’s plant in Prestwick, Scotland. It...

Nearly 500 companies have been mistakenly charged multiple times under the government’s new packaging compliance scheme, after a “technical issue” triggered duplicate direct-debit withdrawals during one of the busiest trading periods of the year. PackUK, the body created to administer Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) charges, confirmed that 484 producers, around 11 per cent of those registered, saw their packaging-waste payments taken repeatedly without warning. Industry figures estimate the error resulted in hundreds of thousands of...