News

Virgin Group, led by Sir Richard Branson, is preparing to order a dozen high-speed trains—worth an estimated £500 million—as it pushes to become the first competitor to Eurostar on services through the Channel Tunnel. Project leader Phil Whittingham confirmed that Virgin aims to close the deal as early as this quarter, ahead of rival startup Evolyn, which has also revealed plans to operate trains from London into mainland Europe. Virgin has shortlisted two manufacturers, having...

The 2024 winner of the BBC’s The Apprentice, Rachel Woolford, has unveiled plans for her debut collaboration with Lord Alan Sugar—an extension to her North Studio fitness enterprise in Leeds, designed to meet surging demand for Reformer Pilates. Woolford, 28, secured a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar earlier this year when she triumphed over rival finalist Phil Turner, owner of a pie shop business, in the show’s finale. She now aims to channel this funding...

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is once again inviting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from across the country to compete in its Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards, with entries open until 9 March. This year’s competition sees the introduction of two new categories and a revamped prize package designed to celebrate homegrown export success and further boost the UK’s global trade ambitions. Organisers have expanded the awards to include...

British manufacturing giant JCB has backtracked on plans to convert 500 agency staff to permanent positions, citing “challenging market conditions” in the wake of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s recent tax-raising Budget. The decision comes as businesses across the country grapple with mounting costs and faltering confidence after employer National Insurance (NI) contributions were raised from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent. A JCB spokesman confirmed that the company “fully intends” to offer permanent contracts to...

Traders are increasingly betting on a significant drop in the pound as concerns mount over the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s ability to stick to her fiscal targets following a sharp rise in borrowing costs. According to Bloomberg, many so-called options trades would profit if sterling plunged to $1.12, an 8 per cent fall that would mark a two-year low and surpass the volatility seen during the 2022 mini-Budget crisis. Sterling lost 1.8 per cent last week,...

Britain’s chemicals industry faces an “extinction event” amid soaring energy prices and rising carbon taxes, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned, after announcing the closure of Ineos’s last remaining synthetic ethanol plant in the UK. The shutdown of the Grangemouth facility, which mainly supplied the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, took effect on Wednesday, resulting in a net loss of 80 jobs and threatening over 500 more in the broader supply chain. It also means Britain will...

Plans by the Bank of England to expand its Leeds presence have hit an early stumbling block, with only 156 current employees registering an interest in transferring from London. The revelation comes after Governor Andrew Bailey announced last year that the Bank intends to have one in ten of its total workforce — at least 500 people — based in Yorkshire by 2027. The Bank, which employed just under 5,400 staff in 2023, has said...

There’s a certain clairvoyance required of a great satirist, an almost supernatural knack for holding up a mirror to society and forcing us to see the grotesque reflection that lurks behind our glossy veneers. Whilst always being a centrist politically, I have loved the ascorbic, usually left, sometimes far-left that British stand-up comedy brings and have been a huge fan of Ben Elton’s from his first outing in his shiny suit on Friday Night Live....