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Low Rhine levels are disrupting freight and German industrial recovery. Britain’s second-largest trading partner now faces higher transport costs and material delays as drought squeezes one of Europe’s most important inland freight routes.
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UK marketers report losing substantial working time to administration. Optimizely research finds 45% spend at least a quarter of their week on low-value tasks amid growing workflow complexity.
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UK inward investment project numbers fell sharply in 2025-26. DBT recorded 1,020 projects, down 25.8%, while associated new jobs remained almost unchanged and safeguarded employment rose substantially.
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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.