Author: Blake Anderson

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to WimbledonFor two weeks of the year, Darren Powell, co-owner of Wimbledon Park Sports in Wimbledon, south-west London, sells towels. Towel upon towel upon towel. Around 2,500 of them, by his estimation. In late June and early July — Wimbledon fortnight — the official Wimbledon court towel, priced at £40, is the single best-selling item in the small but well-stocked specialist racket-sports shop, which this year celebrates four decades on Wimbledon Park Road, the busy thoroughfare that funnels tennis lovers from Southfields Tube to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Financial services myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The UK’s largest wealth managers are preparing to sell private markets products to their retail customers, as investment groups battle to maintain their relevance with savers and the importance of public markets dwindles. Wealth managers such as RBC Wealth Management, Evelyn Partners and Quilter Cheviot told the Financial Times they would soon be able to offer greater access to private markets — ranging from private equity to private credit and infrastructure investments — to high net-worth clients with about £500,000 to more…

What’s the buzz? Dishoom is the wildly successful Indian restaurant chain, founded in London’s Covent Garden in 2010 and today with 10 branches as well as four of its spin-off, the more drinks-focused Permit Room. Co-founder cousins Shamil and Kavi Thakrar have acquired this empire thanks to their flair for world-building — a theatrical, retro Mumbai that is always “Bombay” in the Dishoom-iverse — and the impressive trick of convincing their many loyal diners that queueing for a table can be fun. If you’ve ever seen a line snaking around the block in a buzzy part of London and wondered…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK employment myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Job openings for UK graduates are at their lowest level since 2018 as employers hold off hiring and seek to cut costs by using AI, according to new data. Indeed, the job search site, said the number of roles advertised for recent graduates was 33 per cent lower than a year ago, and had fallen 12 per cent as a share of all job postings. The wider labour market has continued to weaken since tax and minimum wage changes introduced in April pushed up…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldA majority of Britons view the US as a “serious threat” to security after the election of President Donald Trump, who has referred to himself as a “peacemaker” and aspires to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Seventy-two per cent of people said America posed a “very” or “quite serious” risk to global peace in April. This is double the 36 per cent of people last autumn, before Trump was elected, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey published on…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK is to purchase 12 US-made F-35 stealth fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in a sweeping overhaul of the country’s defence strategy.Under the plans, Britain will join Nato’s airborne nuclear mission, and the F-35A jets are expected to carry American atomic bombs, as the military alliance contends with the growing threat of Russia.The UK government’s purchase of the aircraft marks a significant expansion of the country’s nuclear deterrent. Currently, Britain can only launch nuclear weapons from its Vanguard class…

Rising aviation emissions risk jeopardising the UK’s climate targets, independent government advisers have warned, with flights now contributing more greenhouse gas than the entire electricity supply sector.In its annual assessment of the UK’s progress on its net zero emissions goals, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said emissions from flights jumped by 9 per cent in 2024, while recognising progress had been made across many parts of the economy.“If emissions from aviation continue to rise it could put the UK’s future [climate] targets at risk. This is something we need to watch,” said Emily Nurse, CCC head of net zero.The sector’s…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The Bank of England governor has suggested that the UK’s official fiscal forecaster is too optimistic about the prospects for a recovery in productivity growth, questioning an assumption that is critical for the public finances. Andrew Bailey said the Office for Budget Responsibility had been predicting there would be a recovery in productivity growth after a fall-off following the financial crisis, but that the BoE was “sceptical”. “If you were to take what I would loosely call the OBR story, I think you would…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sir Keir Starmer is facing a growing rebellion against his welfare reforms, even as ministers warn dissenting Labour MPs that a vote against the government could trigger the end of his premiership.There are now more than 125 signatories of an amendment to block Starmer’s welfare legislation from its first major vote next week, according to MPs involved in the rebellion.They said there were also two parliamentary private secretaries and three junior ministers who currently say privately that they will vote against the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A row over how to cut Britain’s ballooning welfare bill risks destabilising Sir Keir Starmer’s government, with more than 100 Labour MPs preparing to rebel at a crucial vote next week. The Office for National Statistics estimates that the UK has 2.8mn people with a long-term health condition that prevents them from working, while the government says one in 10 working-age adults claim a health-related benefit. Ministers say they want to help many of these people back into work, but are facing…