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AI investment may raise inflation before productivity gains arrive. Research involving incoming IMF chief economist Silvana Tenreyro highlights the demand and infrastructure pressures created during large-scale technology adoption.
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UK regulators are examining FirstCash’s planned acquisition of Ramsdens today. The CMA is gathering initial views but has not yet formally opened a Phase 1 merger investigation.
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Leading banks increasingly combine credit fundamentals with advanced technical skills. GICP’s analysis of 1,500-plus job postings finds judgement, governance, communication, data, and AI capabilities appearing together across modern credit roles.
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Specsavers increased annual sales and profits despite sustained cost pressure. Pre-tax earnings reached £429.7m as the optical and hearing-care group also resumed a dividend to its parent.
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French regulators fined Boohoo over misleading online discounting practices today. Investigators also identified inaccurate product-material descriptions during their review of the retailer’s historic ecommerce operations.
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London startup Callosum has raised $100m for AI infrastructure. Atomico led the seed round, with Britain’s Sovereign AI fund also backing the company’s compute-orchestration technology.
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Brent crude climbed above $93 as geopolitical tensions intensified again. Restricted Middle Eastern shipping is renewing inflation and operating-cost pressure across transport, manufacturing, logistics, and wider supply chains.
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UK regulators have cleared Danone’s planned acquisition of Huel. The Phase 1 decision removes a major competition hurdle from the high-profile functional nutrition transaction.
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Hays beat annual profit forecasts despite persistent recruitment weakness. Cost reductions and stronger consultant productivity helped offset declining fees, particularly across permanent hiring markets.
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Basware data shows finance automation performance remains uneven globally. Its transaction-based benchmark identifies substantial gaps in autonomous processing, AI decision accuracy, payment performance, and financial controls.
