• Tuesday newspaper round-up: Poundland staff, Apple, Anthropic

  Tuesday 03 Nov 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The founder of Poundland has warned that staff at the retailer could be out of work for "years" if it collapses, as he called on the owners of the troubled chain to accept a proposed buyout deal. Steve Smith, who set up the firm with a store in Burton upon Trent in 1990, said: "Once these jobs are lost, they are lost" from Britain's struggling high streets. His warning comes as the chain's 12,000 employees face uncertainty over their future in the run-up to Christmas. - Guardian

• Monday newspaper round-up: Oil companies, mortgage payments, Chery Automobile

  Monday 02 Nov 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The world's biggest oil companies are on track to amass profits of more than $95bn (£71bn) in the third quarter as the war in the Middle East drives up the price of fossil fuels. The windfall war profits have sparked calls for oil corporations such as Saudi Aramco and BP to pay for environmental damage and help the world transition towards renewable energy. - Guardian

• Sunday newspaper round-up: Heathrow, Modella Capital, UK tax increases, Trump lawsuit, Binance, slot farms

  Sunday 01 Nov 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Richard Branson has criticised Heathrow's decision to separate Virgin Atlantic from partner Delta, calling the move "ill‑judged and short‑sighted" and warning it could push fares up by as much as 20%, The Sunday Times reported. The airport plans to shift Delta from Terminal 3 to Terminal 4, a change Branson said would make it easier for passengers to switch to rivals such as British Airways. He argued the split would weaken Virgin and Delta's ability to compete, adding that strong competition at Heathrow supports lower fares, better connections and wider economic benefits.

• Friday newspaper round-up: Binance, water bosses, entrepreneurs, Amazon

  Friday 30 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The amount Britons can earn from a side hustle without paying tax will rise to £3,000 next year in a fillip for those who make extra cash from hobbies or reselling. Up to 1.4 million people could benefit from the change announced in the budget, with the chancellor confirming the tax-free "trading" allowance will increase from £1,000 to £3,000 in April 2027. - Guardian

• Thursday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Toblerone, Rolls-Royce

  Thursday 29 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - A group of creditors to troubled Thames Water are poised to vote on whether to grant an emergency £2.4bn loan to keep the company afloat, as campaigners raise concerns it could add £40 to each household's bills in interest alone. A consortium of creditors, called London & Valley Water, will vote on Thursday on whether to increase a funding facility for the debt-laden utility company to £5.4bn to keep it operating to autumn 2027. - Guardian

• Wednesday newspaper round-up: Sizewell plant, Rosebank oilfield, Google

  Wednesday 28 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The government's plan to fund a multibillion-pound nuclear plant at the Sizewell site in Suffolk represents a "terrible deal" for the UK taxpayer over the rest of the century, according to the government's spending watchdog. MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) have warned the government that the cost of the Sizewell C nuclear reactor could spiral to almost £48bn, leaving bill payers on the hook to provide an extra £9.8bn to construct the plant before 2040 and a further £12bn over its 60-year operating life. - Guardian

• Tuesday newspaper round-up: Shop price inflation, Microsoft, Helsing

  Tuesday 27 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Shop price inflation has risen to the highest level in two and a half years, according to the British Retail Consortium, which warned that "the dam is starting to break" when it comes to retailers trying to limit price rises for customers. The lobby group said shop price inflation was 2.1% year on year in October, a sharp rise compared with 1.4% in September, and an indication that retailers were beginning to pass on the rising costs of energy and food ingredients since the Middle East conflict broke out. - Guardian

• Monday newspaper round-up: Pensioners and the Budget, interest rate expectations, Audi US factory

  Monday 26 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The chancellor will use his Budget this week to protect pensioners and those saving for their retirement, as he announces plans to shield nearly 1m people from paying income tax. John Healey is expected to confirm on Wednesday that the full state pension will rise by £489 to £13,036 - equivalent to 3.9%. However, the rise will push about 1m people on low incomes who rely on the state pension above the £12, 570 personal allowance threshold, meaning they would be dragged into paying income tax. To retain the principle that the state pension is not taxable, Healey is expected to announce a rise in the tax-free allowance for low-income pensions to £13,036. The move will cost taxpayers £200m a year by 20230 - The Times

• Sunday newspaper round-up: EU, Poundland, Cumberland Farms, Pip & Nut, Skydance, Starlink

  Sunday 25 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Andy Burnham has said the UK needs an "evidence‑based debate" on freedom of movement as he considers options for reshaping Britain's relationship with Brussels. The Prime Minister told The Telegraph that any future model - including single‑market membership or even full EU re‑entry - would require a frank discussion about migration flows. Burnham, who worked in Germany under free movement rules in the 1990s, said the system had "significant challenges" but noted that earlier patterns of "revolving‑door migration" were less disruptive than today's pressures. He argued that younger workers often stayed only a few years before returning home, and that the arrangement benefited British citizens too.

• Friday newspaper round-up: Elon Musk/Skydance, North Sea wealth fund, retiring entrepreneurs

  Friday 23 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Elon Musk has reportedly invested approximately $1bn in Skydance, the new media empire led by David Ellison. The deal comes alongside fresh equity infusions from existing investors, including board member Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs's widow. Semafor first reported the news. The investment follows Paramount's recent $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery, a huge acquisition that brought the media companies together under the Skydance name. At the head of the new media empire is David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder and Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison. - Guardian

• Thursday newspaper round-up: AI companies, Waitrose, gas standing charges

  Thursday 22 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - AI companies have told ministers they have 12 months to head off public opposition to datacentres in the UK or risk US-style protests that could threaten their construction. Successive dry summers and rising energy bills are increasing public scrutiny of plans for the huge computer warehouses that are used to train and run AI models, says a submission to the Labour government from a group including the AI infrastructure companies Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco. - Guardian

• Wednesday newspaper round-up: SpaceX, NatWest, Anthropic

  Wednesday 21 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The UK government has approved the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a widely expected move that will nonetheless dismay environmental campaigners and a number of Labour MPs. While Labour's 2024 election manifesto committed to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea, the companies behind Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield project, which is being decided on separately, have sought environmental approval for existing licences. - Guardian

• Wednesday newspaper round-up: SpaceX, NatWest, Anthropic

  Wednesday 21 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The UK government has approved the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a widely expected move that will nonetheless dismay environmental campaigners and a number of Labour MPs. While Labour's 2024 election manifesto committed to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea, the companies behind Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield project, which is being decided on separately, have sought environmental approval for existing licences. - Guardian

• Tuesday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, North Sea workers, tobacco companies, John Lewis

  Tuesday 20 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Andy Burnham has told officials to rip up their plans for how to fix Thames Water and present him with more radical options for what to do with the stricken company. In an early test of his promise to bring "the essentials of life" under public control, the prime minister is urging his advisers to go back to the drawing board and create a new list of policies for the utility. One option being looked at is to convert about £100m of outstanding fines into a government stake in the company, saving its creditors money but giving ministers some say in how it is run. - Guardian

• Monday newspaper round-up: Profit warnings, British steelmakers, Microsoft

  Monday 19 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The number of profit warnings from UK-listed companies has risen to the highest level in two years, as the war in the Middle East triggers a surge in costs for businesses before the budget. With less than a fortnight before John Healey's tax and spending statement to the Commons, the consultants EY-Parthenon said companies quoted on the London stock market had issued 65 warnings in the three months to the end of September. - Guardian

• Sunday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Renault, Welsh radar project, water companies, NHS, Israeli militants

  Sunday 18 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Barclays will spend more than £100m cutting high‑street roles as part of a major cost‑reduction drive, according to The Times. The FTSE 100 lender is set to be the first of the UK's big four banks to update investors on quarterly profits following reports that chancellor John Healey plans to raise taxes on the sector in his 28 October budget. Analysts expect Barclays to post around £2.4bn of Q3 profit, up from £2.1bn a year earlier, putting it on track for a record £10.4bn full‑year haul. Group finance director Anna Cross told analysts the bank will book £125m of Q3 restructuring costs in its UK arm, largely tied to personnel reductions.

• Friday newspaper round-up: Banks, Meta, John Lewis, Big Four accountancy firms

  Friday 16 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - John Healey is poised to tax Britain's banks in his 28 October budget, to help offset the damage inflicted on the public finances by war in the Middle East, the Guardian understands. The chancellor is in Bangkok, where the International Monetary Fund has praised the UK's progress towards balancing the books, urging him to "stay the course". To keep the Treasury's deficit reduction plans on track in the face of rising government borrowing costs, the Guardian understands Healey has decided to tap the financial sector for additional revenue. - Guardian

• Thursday newspaper round-up: Hospitality jobs, household bills, Netflix

  Thursday 15 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - Bars, clubs and restaurants will offer up to 100,000 jobs to young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) over the next three years in an effort to give them a first step on the ladder into work. The move comes before the publication of a report on Neets by the former health secretary Alan Milburn, who has warned that the number of young people not in work or education in the UK could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years unless ministers intervene. - Guardian

• Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tariffs, BitMEX, Character.AI

  Wednesday 14 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The business secretary has hit back at European demands for British tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the government will not change its trade rules because of pressure from Brussels. Jonathan Reynolds warned that the government would not bow to calls from other countries for the UK to hit Chinese vehicles with import taxes, despite political pressure to align with the EU in exchange for deeper future economic ties. - Guardian

• Tuesday newspaper round-up: IMF warning, Poundland, Burberry

  Tuesday 13 Oct 2026

  (Sharecast News) - The global economy "could soon test the limits of resilience", as emergency oil stocks run low and government budgets become overstretched, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the IMF said global growth had withstood the Middle East conflict better than feared over the past six months. It said the rerouting of oil supplies away from the strait of Hormuz, and the release of strategic energy stocks, had helped to contain the impact on oil prices from the US-Iran war. - Guardian

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