Month: November 2025

UK inflation has eased to 3.6% in the year to October — its lowest level in four months — helped by slower increases in household energy costs and falling hotel prices.
However, food inflation picked up again after a brief dip, underlining the ongoing pressure on household finances just a week before the government delivers its highly anticipated Budget.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show inflation slipping from 3.8% in September, though the fall was not as sharp as economists had forecast. The reduction strengthens hopes that price pressures have peaked and could pave the way for future interest rate cuts, even as inflation remains above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she remained “determined to do more to bring prices down”, acknowledging that the cost of living “is still a big burden on families across the country”. Reeves is expected to make easing cost pressures a central theme of the Budget, which is likely to include a mix of tax rises and spending cuts to stabilise the public finances.
The biggest upward pressure in October came from food and non-alcoholic drinks, with food inflation rising to 4.9%, up from 4.5% the previous month. Prices for bread, meat, fish, vegetables, chocolate and confectionery all increased, though fruit became slightly cheaper.
The Food and Drink Federation said rising costs for ingredients, energy and “regulatory burdens” — including packaging levies and higher National Insurance — continued to push up prices across the sector.
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said the main factor driving down the headline rate was a much smaller rise in household energy bills compared with last year. The Ofgem price cap increased by just 2% in October, compared with a 9.6% spike in 2023.
Hotel prices also fell between the summer and winter period — a typical seasonal trend — but dipped more sharply this year, pulling inflation lower. Fuel prices, however, rose again, increasing transport and delivery costs.
Inflation within the supply chain remained elevated, with raw material costs and factory gate prices still rising.
The Bank of England held interest rates at 4% earlier this month after inflation remained stubbornly high through the summer. But analysts now believe easing price pressures could prompt the Bank to cut rates at its 18 December meeting.
Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said a December cut was now “nailed-on”, though he expects a long gap before the next reduction.
Underlying inflation also improved: both core inflation (which excludes food and energy) and services inflation fell in October — signs the Bank of England will view positively as it assesses the pace of future price rises.
The inflation figures have sharpened the political debate as the government prepares its first Budget. Reeves is reportedly considering measures such as cutting taxes on energy bills or introducing deflationary spending adjustments to support the wider fight against inflation.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said inflation “has been above target every single month since Labour’s last Budget”, leaving families “worse off”.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper urged the Chancellor to “look this small gift horse in the mouth” and introduce emergency support, including a VAT cut for the hospitality sector and immediate reductions in energy bills.
Lower inflation, if sustained, will reduce pressure on mortgage holders and borrowers more broadly.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the country was “heaving a sigh of relief”, but warned that households were “far from out of the woods”.
Read more:
UK inflation falls to 3.6%, lowest level in four months, as Budget looms

Eight companies are under formal investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over concerns about online pricing tactics, marking the regulator’s first major enforcement action under its strengthened consumer protection powers.
The firms — StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical — are being examined as part of a wide-ranging review into how businesses display and structure online prices. The CMA is also writing to a further 100 companies to warn them about potential breaches relating to additional fees, pressure selling and misleading sales tactics.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said consumers should be able to trust that the prices they see online are genuine and complete.
“At a time when household budgets are under constant pressure and we’re all hunting for the best deal possible, it’s crucial that people can shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they’ll pay,” she said. “Any sales must be genuine.”
The investigations follow a major review launched in April in which the CMA assessed price transparency practices at more than 400 businesses across the economy. Regulators are particularly concerned about “drip pricing”, where customers are shown a low initial price but encounter additional fees only during checkout, and about the use of countdown clocks and other pressure-based selling tactics.
The cases are the first to be opened under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, introduced last year, which gives the CMA unprecedented enforcement powers. The watchdog can now determine for itself whether consumer law has been broken — without taking cases to court — and can order firms to pay compensation or impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
The CMA has yet to confirm a timeline for the investigations but said further enforcement action is likely as the regulator continues its sector-wide review. The businesses named have the right to respond, and the CMA has not yet concluded whether any breaches have occurred.
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Eight firms investigated over online pricing as CMA exercises new powers

Customers of UK banks and building societies will soon benefit from a major increase to the amount of money protected if their bank fails, after regulators confirmed that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) deposit limit will rise from £85,000 to £120,000.
The change, announced by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), marks the largest uplift since 2017 and reflects updated inflation data and industry feedback. It will take effect in December, with customers automatically covered — no action is required from account holders.
Martyn Beauchamp, chief executive of the FSCS, said the increase will give consumers stronger reassurance at a time of economic uncertainty.
“This rise ensures that consumers can feel confident their money is safe, from the very first penny up to £120,000,” he said.
The FSCS protects deposits per person, per authorised firm, meaning multiple accounts held under the same banking licence share the £120,000 limit. Several major banks operate multiple brands under a single licence — a detail the PRA encourages consumers to check.
Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation at the Bank of England and CEO of the PRA, said the reform strengthens financial stability and public confidence.
“This change will help maintain the public’s confidence in the safety of their money,” he said. “Depositors will be protected up to £120,000 should their bank, building society or credit union fail.”
Consumer groups welcomed the move. Which? described it as a “sensible decision” that reinforces trust in the financial services sector without restricting economic growth. Rocio Concha, the group’s director of policy and advocacy, said the increase was “a timely reminder that strong consumer protections need not hamper those aims.”
Industry representatives also backed the decision. Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said adjusting the limit for inflation was “right” and that the sector would work with regulators to ensure smooth implementation.
As part of the same update, the PRA confirmed a rise in the temporary high balance cap — which protects large sums resulting from major life events such as house sales, inheritances or insurance payouts. That limit will increase from £1 million to £1.4 million, and will apply for six months from the point the balance enters the account.
The FSCS is funded through a levy on PRA- and FCA-regulated firms, rather than taxpayers.
Read more:
UK bank deposit protection to rise to £120,000 from December

Carbon3.ai, the UK’s leading sovereign AI infrastructure company, has announced a £1 billion investment to build the country’s first nationwide network of fully sovereign, sustainable AI-ready data centres — a move expected to reshape the UK’s digital resilience, national security and long-term competitiveness in artificial intelligence.
The ambitious programme will convert legacy industrial and energy sites into a network of high-performance, low-carbon compute hubs, all designed, owned and operated exclusively within the UK. This ensures that every component — from physical locations to data processing — remains under full UK jurisdiction and regulatory oversight. Carbon3.ai has already completed a successful proof of concept and is preparing for full-scale deployment, with its first 5MW site in the East Midlands opening in March 2026. Planning approval has also been submitted for a second facility in Derbyshire.
To support the next phase of its growth, Carbon3.ai has strengthened its leadership with appointments spanning government, finance and national security. Sana Khareghani, former Head of the UK Government Office for Artificial Intelligence, joins as Chief Strategy Officer, where she will spearhead the development of the national AI infrastructure strategy and ensure the company’s network underpins the UK’s digital, industrial and energy transition.
Khareghani will be supported by Richard Collier-Keywood, the former Vice Chair of PwC’s Global Board, who will advise on financial strategy and governance, and Admiral Sir George Zambellas, former First Sea Lord, whose experience in national resilience and major-scale technology operations will guide Carbon3.ai’s approach to infrastructure security.
Together, the new leadership team brings what Carbon3.ai describes as a “rare combination” of strategic, operational and national service expertise — positioning the company at the centre of the UK’s race to secure sovereign compute capacity.
“If the UK is to lead in AI, we must first secure the foundations: compute, power and data,” said Khareghani. “Carbon3 is building those foundations here at home, transforming legacy energy sites into a sovereign, renewable, AI-ready infrastructure network. This isn’t theory — it’s happening now on the ground. By putting critical infrastructure back under UK control, we are creating the sustainable capacity that will power innovation for decades.”
Carbon3.ai chief executive Tom Humphreys said the investment reflects the UK’s urgent need for sovereign AI infrastructure: “It’s not enough to invest in data centres — we need a national backbone for AI that’s owned, powered and secured right here at home,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure British enterprise, researchers and public institutions have access to world-class compute without relying on foreign-controlled infrastructure.”
Humphreys added that the company is building from “real assets, land, power and live deployments”, and noted that government acknowledges the scale of the challenge. “They’ve been clear that we need 6GW of sovereign AI capacity by 2030. We believe this network will be pivotal in securing that national advantage.”
The investment aligns closely with the UK Government’s AI and digital infrastructure agenda, supporting national resilience, regional regeneration and the conversion of brownfield and legacy energy sites into clean, renewable-powered compute hubs. Carbon3.ai’s expansion also dovetails with plans for AI Growth Zones and the classification of new data centre capacity as critical national infrastructure.
Carbon3.ai’s announcement represents one of the most substantial private-sector commitments yet to accelerating the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities — and signals the rapid emergence of a new strategic industry for Britain’s economic future.
Read more:
Carbon3.ai to invest £1bn in UK’s first fully sovereign AI infrastructure network

Pub operators and hospitality leaders have warned that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ expected tax raid on gaming machines could inflict serious damage on an industry already battling soaring costs, staff shortages and fragile consumer confidence.
With speculation mounting that the Chancellor will sharply increase Machine Gaming Duty (MGD) in the November 26 Budget, trade bodies say the move risks pulling away one of the last remaining revenue supports for thousands of community pubs.
Fruit machines have been part of Britain’s pub culture for more than 50 years, and although their numbers have declined since their heyday, they remain an essential income stream. According to UKHospitality, almost 36,700 fruit and slot machines operate across nearly half of the UK’s pubs, generating £622 million annually. Once taxes, supplier rent and other charges are deducted, operators are left with an estimated £385 million — or roughly £8,500 per pub — at a time when margins are already “wafer thin”.
Fears have intensified following reports that Reeves is preparing significant increases in gambling taxes to help plug a £30 billion hole in the public finances. Proposals being discussed include raising sports betting duties from 15% to 30% and lifting duty on machine and online slots from 20% to 50%. For pubs, whose gaming machines are low-stakes and incidental to their core trade, industry leaders say such a jump would be devastating.
Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Heineken-owned Star Pubs, said pubs are already under “tremendous pressure” following last year’s steep rise in Employer National Insurance and the national minimum wage. “Our low-stakes machines are an important revenue stream. Any move that erodes their value puts further strain on our ability to serve communities up and down the UK.”
That sentiment is shared across the sector. James Baer, executive chairman of Amber Taverns, said increasing MGD for machines that are “ancillary” to pubs’ main purpose would be another “unwelcome setback” after what he described as a “savage attack” on hospitality last year.
Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie warned that the measure may “inadvertently be the tipping point” for pubs already grappling with an “avalanche of costs”. The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) estimates a rise in MGD to 50% would cost pubs £187 million a year, equivalent to 16,300 jobs.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, said the impact could be catastrophic. “These are low-margin businesses that create huge numbers of jobs for young people. Any increase in the cost of doing business brings them closer to closing their doors for good.”
Analysts believe listed pub companies could also face significant hits. At JD Wetherspoon — already absorbing £60 million in additional annual costs due to labour changes — Peel Hunt analyst Douglas Jack estimates a move to 50% MGD would cost the group £18 million. Founder Sir Tim Martin said gaming machines may represent a small portion of Wetherspoon’s sales, but remain “an important part of pub economics” and are “already highly taxed”. Another increase would be “another straw on the camel’s back”.
The industry fears the government’s calculations are flawed. Rather than bringing in more revenue, higher taxes could make many machines unprofitable, prompting their removal and actually reducing the total tax take. Chris Jowsey, chief executive of Admiral Taverns, warned the move would have a “devastating impact”, cutting income for pubs in areas where alternative revenue streams are limited. At Admiral Taverns’ 1,300 pubs, machines currently generate around £6,000 net revenue per year; under the proposed tax rate, this would fall to £2,625.
Alongside financial pressures, industry leaders say the timing could not be worse. New projections from the BBPA suggest 332 pubs will have closed by the time the Chancellor delivers her Budget. The concern is that an MGD rise will accelerate the decline of one of Britain’s most cherished community institutions.
Trade bodies including the BBPA and UKHospitality are now urging the government to freeze duty on Category C low-stakes fruit machines and Category D arcade-style penny fall machines — both of which are disproportionately used in pubs and leisure venues.
Kate Nicholls, chairwoman of UKHospitality, said that for many pubs, machine income has become “increasingly important” as they deal with spiralling operational costs. Raising MGD on these machines, she said, would be “detrimental” to the long-term health of the sector.
A Treasury spokesperson said tax decisions will be announced at the Budget, adding that its consultation on gambling taxation is focused on remote betting websites, which employ fewer people, have lower costs, and deliver higher profits than traditional venues.
Industry leaders remain unconvinced. “This would not deliver the intended yields,” Jowsey said. “It would accelerate pub closures, cut jobs, hollow out high streets and likely reduce the overall tax take. It would feel like the rug is being pulled out from beneath community pubs.”
Read more:
Reeves’ fruit machine tax ‘would gamble with pubs’ futures’, industry warns

Stepping away from a successful career in technology to pursue a long-held creative ambition is no small leap, yet that is precisely what Sarah Haran did.
Today, she heads the British luxury accessories brand that bears her name, celebrated for workmanship, colour and a modular design concept that gives customers “one bag, endless looks”.
From her studio to the atelier in Istanbul where each piece is crafted by hand from Italian leather, Haran has created a label defined not just by design but by purpose: handbags that bring joy to women’s lives, offering both style and versatility. With a loyal following across the UK and US, she has carved out a niche rooted in quality, creativity and customer connection.
What do you currently do at Sarah Haran Accessories?
As Founder and CEO, Haran occupies the unusual space where corporate discipline meets creative freedom. She continues to design every collection, guide the brand’s creative direction and oversee marketing, ensuring that each touchpoint reflects the central values of joy, versatility and craftsmanship.
“No two days are the same,” she says. “I might be reviewing new samples in the morning and hosting a live styling session in the afternoon. That blend of communication and creativity is what energises me.”
Her focus, she explains, is unwavering: to make handbags that are as functional as they are beautiful. From leather quality to colour palette to how each piece adapts to a customer’s day, Haran is closely involved in every detail. “Everything comes back to one idea — making women’s lives easier, while bringing them joy.”
What was the inspiration behind your business?
The spark came from a personal frustration: the struggle to find a handbag that was luxurious yet practical, stylish yet adaptable. “I wanted something that could evolve with my day without needing to change bags,” Haran says. This desire became the foundation of her modular handbag system, enabling women to customise their look with interchangeable accessories.
Two years of development followed, working with expert craftspeople to refine every element until function and elegance sat perfectly in balance. The result is a collection designed not only to suit any occasion but to empower its wearer.
Her purpose remains clear. “We talk about bringing women ‘bags of joy’ — and that comes from listening to our customers. Their stories, how the bags fit into their lives, inspire me constantly. It’s about much more than handbags — it’s about helping women feel confident, organised and joyful every day.”
Who do you admire?
Haran’s influences are wide-ranging, anchored in respect for women who embody resilience, ambition and kindness. “My mother showed me that drive and compassion can absolutely go hand-in-hand,” she reflects.
She cites admiration for the Queen’s quiet loyalty and sense of duty, Victoria Beckham’s reinvention and work ethic, and Katie Piper’s extraordinary courage and optimism. She also acknowledges broadcaster Anthea Turner for her generous support of the brand and her ability to remain relevant with grace.
Closer to home, Haran praises Lynne Kennedy of Business Women Scotland for her work championing female entrepreneurs. But it is her own customers who, she says, inspire her most deeply. “Some have been with us since the very beginning. Their loyalty and encouragement are a constant source of motivation.”
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
“If anything, I’d have started sooner,” Haran admits. “Building a brand takes far longer than people expect — it’s years of learning, refining and staying resilient.”
Yet she is quick to acknowledge the value of her previous career. Her years in technology taught her discipline, strategic thinking and the structural foundations needed to scale a business sustainably. “So while an earlier start might have accelerated growth, I’m grateful for what those corporate years gave me.”
If she could advise her younger self, she’d keep it simple: be patient, learn constantly, and recognise that each challenge strengthens the path ahead. “Every day really is a school day — the journey is longer and harder than you imagine, but every lesson counts.”
What defines your way of doing business?
One word, Haran says, sums it up: joy. It runs through her designs, her brand communications and her approach to customer relationships. “Luxury shouldn’t feel cold or distant,” she explains. “It should feel uplifting, thoughtful and genuinely personal.”
She places strong emphasis on fairness, kindness and creativity, prioritising long-term relationships over quick wins. Whether working with her team, suppliers or customers, the goal is to build a brand that people enjoy being part of.
“The business was founded on the idea of joy, and that continues to guide every decision. When you lead with joy, it changes the way you design, work and grow.”
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Her first piece of advice is deceptively simple: begin before you feel ready. “There’s no perfect moment,” she says. “Progress comes from taking action, not waiting.”
She recommends finding a clear sense of purpose, something steady to return to on difficult days. For Haran, that purpose is helping women feel confident through design.
She also stresses the importance of surrounding yourself with people who share your values, who challenge you in the right ways, and who believe in your vision. “Listen to advice, but trust your instincts. Stay curious. Building a business is constant learning — and you simply don’t know what you don’t know. Forgive yourself as you go.”
Read more:
Getting to know you: Sarah Haran, Founder & CEO, Sarah Haran Accessories

When I first started taking clients out for dinner, you could sit under the copper dome of Le Gavroche, order a bottle of claret you’d never dare drink at home, and—after a couple of courses, a soufflé, and a few discreet nods from the maître d’—leave only mildly lighter in wallet and spirit.
Today, on the same site, you can do much the same thing at Matt Abé’s new venture Bonheur. Only now, the bill for two will come in at £250 before you’ve even blinked at the digestif list.
I’m not one for false nostalgia—restaurants must evolve, chefs must be paid, and if anyone’s earned the right to resurrect a Mayfair temple of gastronomy it’s Abé. But there’s a creeping sense that fine dining has priced itself into absurdity. And for once, it’s not just about greedy restaurateurs; it’s about the country we’ve built around them.
Energy bills have soared. Not just yours or mine, but those of restaurants that rely on gas ranges, endless refrigeration, and enough light to flatter every banker’s jowls. Add to that the cost of labour in an industry already haemorrhaging staff post-Brexit, and suddenly that tasting menu looks less like an indulgence and more like a desperate act of financial survival.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, would like us to believe that things are finally “stabilising”. I’ve seen more stability in a soufflé during a Tube strike. Her Treasury may be trying to keep business afloat, but when small restaurants are seeing energy costs double, the effect is akin to throwing a life jacket to a man who’s already under the water.
Fine dining, long the glitzy tip of the hospitality iceberg, is the first to feel the cracks. It was never about volume or turnover; it was about art. A kitchen like Abé’s depends on precision, patience, and prodigiously expensive ingredients that can’t be bought in bulk. When your butter alone costs more than most people’s rent, “value for money” ceases to be a meaningful phrase.
Once upon a time, £160-£180 for two was a generous way to mark a birthday or sign a contract. Now it’s merely the entry fee for breathing the same air as a Michelin inspector. And before the chorus begins: yes, I know what goes into it. I’ve sat in enough stainless-steel kitchens to appreciate the choreography of twenty cooks plating thirty dishes in silence. I know the rent in Mayfair. I know what happens to a menu when olive oil triples in price.
But—and forgive the sentimentality—I also know what a restaurant used to mean. At Le Coq d’Argent or Claridge’s or Marcus Wareing’s at the Berkeley, you could justify the expense as part theatre, part negotiation. It was business done in a place that made everyone feel like someone. You weren’t buying food; you were buying atmosphere, attention, and a tiny square of London’s self-confidence.
Today, that same dinner feels faintly transactional. The food is exquisite, the wine list terrifyingly precise, and yet something human has been lost. When you know a single starter costs as much as the average family’s weekly shop, the pleasure sours slightly. The magic evaporates with the steam from the consommé.
Reeves’ problem—indeed, the country’s problem—is that we’ve stopped treating restaurants as part of the cultural ecosystem. When energy prices bite, when VAT hovers at the same rate as fast food, and when landlords charge what they like, the effect isn’t just fewer Michelin stars; it’s fewer apprentices, fewer suppliers, fewer reasons for tourists to bother crossing the Channel for dinner.
You can’t build an “innovation economy” on empty stomachs. Yet that’s what we seem to be trying. The government talks endlessly about growth while allowing one of Britain’s finest export industries—its hospitality scene—to suffocate under the weight of its own bills. Paris subsidises its bistros. Copenhagen practically canonises its chefs. In London, we just raise the price of the tasting menu and pretend everything’s fine.
Of course, there will always be those for whom £250 is a rounding error. The same crowd who will book Bonheur weeks ahead and post filtered shots of their langoustine tartlets. They’re not the problem. The problem is the steady disappearance of the middle ground—the diners who once treated a grand restaurant as a reachable luxury. Those people are now in bistros, if they’re out at all, calculating the cost of bread service.
When I took clients to the Savoy or Claridge’s, it wasn’t just about indulgence; it was diplomacy. Deals were signed over lamb cutlets and laughter. You can’t do that if your guest is nervously Googling “how much to tip on £500”. Fine dining relied on aspiration, not intimidation.
Perhaps we should stop pretending fine dining is for everyone. Let it be what it now is: haute couture, admired from afar. But if we do, we must also accept that Britain loses something. Our restaurants have long been the quiet stages of our national life—places where ambition met artistry, where even a tax accountant could feel momentarily glamorous.
Reeves can’t control every gas bill, but she can recognise that hospitality is not a luxury to be tolerated; it’s a craft to be preserved. Energy relief for small restaurants, tax breaks for training, a re-think of VAT for the sector—none of it would cost much compared to the cultural value at stake.
Because once the £250 dinner becomes the norm, it stops being dinner. It becomes a ceremony for the few, performed behind heavy curtains while the rest of us eat at home and wonder when exactly Britain forgot how to go out.
Read more:
Fine dining’s death by a thousand cuts, and at least a £250 bill

Stonegate Group, owner of the Slug & Lettuce and Be At One chains, has opened preliminary talks with advisers about a disposal of part of its estate, according to industry sources.
The move comes as the company struggles with more than £3 billion of debt built up largely through its £3 billion takeover of rival Ei in 2019.
The pubs under review — 1,034 sites internally known as Stonegate’s “platinum” collection — are regarded as among the company’s strongest assets. Sources said the package could fetch up to £1 billion. Stonegate attempted to offload a similar number of pubs in 2023, but the sale did not progress.
After that failed process, Stonegate securitised the platinum estate using a £638 million loan from private equity firm Apollo, carving the pubs out into a separate entity and easing immediate pressure on the wider group.
The company’s executives are reassessing options ahead of January, when a “non-call period” on the Apollo loan — which currently prevents Stonegate from selling or refinancing the pubs — expires. One option being considered is breaking the estate into several large tranches rather than seeking a single buyer.
Stonegate, owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, has grown rapidly since its creation in 2010, when TDR bought 333 pubs from Mitchells & Butlers. Its takeover of Ei made it the country’s biggest pub landlord, overtaking Greene King, but also saddled the business with heavy borrowing shortly before the Covid pandemic forced pubs to shut for months.
The financial strain has only intensified since. High interest rates and rising operating costs have weighed heavily on the business: Stonegate’s finance costs hit £455 million in the year to 29 September 2024, while the group reported a £214 million loss for the year. The sector has also been hit by higher labour costs following increases in employers’ national insurance and the minimum wage.
In August, ratings agency Fitch downgraded Stonegate to CCC+, citing concerns about its ability to meet debt repayments. The carved-out platinum pubs were not included in the rating.
The platinum estate is understood to be generating around £90 million in annual EBITDA. All the pubs are freehold, spread across England and Wales.
Private equity bidders are expected to show strong interest given the scale and quality of the assets available.
Alongside efforts to stabilise its finances, Stonegate chief executive David McDowall — who joined from BrewDog last year — has launched a transformation plan aimed at returning the company to profitability. The strategy includes converting hundreds of managed pubs into tenanted or leased sites, reducing labour exposure and generating what the company says is an average profit uplift of £110,000 per pub.
TDR, Stonegate’s owner, is best known for its investment in Asda, which it acquired in a £6.8 billion deal alongside the Issa brothers in 2021. It took majority control of the supermarket last year after buying Zuber Issa’s stake.
Stonegate declined to comment on the potential sale.
Read more:
Britain’s largest pub operator is preparing £1 billion sell-off of more than 1,000 venues

Former chancellor George Osborne has been shortlisted as a shock candidate to become the next chairman of HSBC Holdings, one of the most powerful and prestigious roles in global banking, according to reports.

Sky News revealed that Osborne — who served as chancellor from 2010 to 2016 — was approached over the summer as part of HSBC’s year-long search to replace outgoing chair Sir Mark Tucker. City sources say he is now among three remaining contenders being considered by the board.
The other candidates are understood to be; Naguib Kheraj, former Barclays finance director and ex-deputy chairman of Standard Chartered and Kevin Sneader, former global managing partner of McKinsey, now a senior executive at Goldman Sachs in Asia
It remains unclear whether any other names are still formally in contention or if the board views a particular candidate as the frontrunner.
Osborne’s presence on the shortlist has raised eyebrows across the Square Mile. Despite his extensive political and advisory background, he has no public company chairmanship experience, and his direct banking experience is limited compared with his rivals.
HSBC — valued at nearly £190bn and the second-largest FTSE 100 company after AstraZeneca — has faced criticism for running what observers describe as a chaotic succession process. Sir Mark stepped down at the end of September to chair insurer AIA, although he continues to advise HSBC’s board. Former KPMG vice-chair Brendan Nelson was installed as interim chair last month while the search continues.
If selected, Osborne would be a radical appointment for a post traditionally held by senior banking figures with decades of industry experience.
Since leaving Parliament, Osborne has pursued a wide-ranging career. He served as editor of the London Evening Standard, before becoming a partner at Robey Warshaw, the elite merger advisory firm recently acquired by Evercore. He also chairs the British Museum, advises cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and chairs Lingotto Investment Management, backed by Italy’s Agnelli family.
A move to HSBC would require him to relinquish several of these high-profile roles.
Osborne’s past dealings with China are also likely to attract scrutiny. As chancellor, he championed a “golden era” of UK-China relations and reportedly intervened on HSBC’s behalf in 2012 during its negotiations with US authorities over money-laundering charges. Today’s far cooler geopolitical climate means HSBC’s next chair will face a radically different operating environment.
Regulators are expected to scrutinise both his limited banking experience and complex professional portfolio.
HSBC shares have risen more than 50% over the past year, despite global headwinds. The bank is now undergoing a major strategic reshaping under new chief executive Georges Elhedery, who succeeded Noel Quinn in July 2024.
Elhedery has reorganised the business into eastern markets and western markets divisions, and has merged commercial and investment banking into a single unit. Analysts have given mixed reactions, but the strategy has not halted the stock’s strong performance.
During Sir Mark Tucker’s tenure, HSBC continued to streamline its operations by exiting non-core markets including Canada and France to sharpen its focus on Asia.
HSBC said the chair succession process, led by senior independent director Ann Godbehere, remains ongoing. Neither the bank nor Mr Osborne commented on the latest developments.
Read more:
George Osborne emerges as surprise contender to become HSBC chairman