Midweek Scoop

A collection of 42 posts

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Midweek Scoop

From Jet Engines to Nuclear Dreams – Rolls-Royce’s Next Frontier

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Midweek Scoop

Beyond Belief – How Beyond Meat’s Shares Cooked Themselves

There are some weeks when the stock market behaves like a sensible adult. Other weeks, it behaves like it’s been left unsupervised with an energy drink on tap. Beyond Meat just gave us one of those: its shares shot up more than 600% in three days before promptly collapsing

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Midweek Scoop

Robinhood and JP Morgan: Britain’s Battle of the Investment Apps

Nutmeg, once the friendly face of online investing, is bowing out this autumn and giving way to J.P. Morgan Personal Investing – a rebrand that says the grown-ups have arrived. But the timing is no coincidence. As JP Morgan puts its name over Britain’s best-known investing platform, another American

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Midweek Scoop

OpenAI’s $1 Trillion IOU

Over the past few weeks, headlines have reported that OpenAI has entered a trillion-dollar partnership with NVIDIA, AMD and Oracle – a number so big it sounds more like a typo than a transaction. Cue a mix of excitement and head-scratching. How can a company that still loses money afford something

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EA’s Power Play – The Deal That Changed the Game

What do The Sims, FIFA (sorry, EA Sports FC) and Jared Kushner have in common? Apparently, a $55 billion leveraged buyout. Yes, you read that correctly. Electronic Arts – the California gaming powerhouse behind some of the world’s most popular digital franchises – is going private in a $55 billion deal.

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Midweek Scoop

Betting Firms vs Prediction Markets: When the Bookies Meet the Spreadsheet Brigade

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Midweek Scoop

SumUp’s $15 Billion Question: London or New York?

You know a fintech has grown up when the question shifts from “How many cafés use their card readers?” to “Which stock exchange wants them?” That’s where SumUp now finds itself. Born in 2012 with a pocket-sized card reader for tiny shops, it has since done some serious bulking

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Midweek Scoop

Buying Homes with Bitcoin? Christie’s is Giving it a Go

You know things are getting strange when the same auction house that sells Picassos is now flogging houses for crypto. Christie’s has launched a billion-dollar real estate division in California where you can pay for your mansion with digital coins. No Monopoly money here –actual crypto, signed off by

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Midweek Scoop

The Onion’s Print Revival Sparks Revenue Surge – and Raises Questions for Media’s Future

Ten years ago, The Onion quietly binned its printing presses and joined the long list of media outlets that decided paper was yesterday’s news. The satirical news outlet, once famous for its free-distribution newspapers, shut down its print edition in 2013 and leaned heavily into online publishing. But, like

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Midweek Scoop

Italy’s €200k Invitation (with Milan on the Front Row)

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Midweek Scoop

Shelf Life to Share Price – Princes Eyes a £700m London Listing

Princes is one of those names you meet on the supermarket shelves long before it makes an appearance in the financial news. Tinned tuna, corned beef, even those tins of peaches stacked quietly in the cupboard – the kind of staple you reach for on a Tuesday night when inspiration runs

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Midweek Scoop

Private Party: Soho House Checks Out of the Stock Exchange

If you’ve ever sipped a martini in a swoon-worthy armchair, debated oat milk vs cow over avocado on toast, or waited three months for a “local” members’ club to let you in – chances are, you’ve brushed up against the world of Soho House. The global club-hotel-restaurant-spa-gym-creative-community hybrid has

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Midweek Scoop

Cars, Commissions and Courtrooms – Why Bank Shares Just Went Up Despite a Hefty Bill

It’s not often you hear “consumer compensation scheme” and “bank shares rise” in the same breath, but here we are. This week’s big finance story involves mis-sold car finance, a Supreme Court twist, and a market reaction that looks – at first glance – to defy common sense.

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Midweek Scoop

Behind the Mic: How Podcast Publishers Took Over the Show

If you still think podcasting is just two mates chatting about football in a shed, it’s time for a rethink. The shed’s been soundproofed, they’ve got a producer, a sponsorship deal, and someone from Spotify on speed dial. Podcasting isn’t a cottage industry anymore – it’s

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Midweek Scoop

Beyond the Music: Bieber’s Family Office and the Business of Being Rich

Pop star. Chart-topper. One-time Calvin Klein poster boy. And now… head of his very own wealth machine. Justin Bieber, never one to stick with convention, has reportedly launched a family office – RBCx Holdings (short for Royal Bible Club, naturally) – following the $200 million sale of his music catalogue to Hipgnosis

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Midweek Scoop

Vine Britannia: Can England’s Wine Boom Weather the Storm?

It wasn’t just the crisp acidity or the hint of stone fruit that caught our attention. It was the bottle. We’d just tasted a Chardonnay from The Heretics – a bold new producer tucked into the North Essex hills – and immediately went digging for more. The wine was brilliant.

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Midweek Scoop

Green Dreams, Paid Monthly – The Rise of Energy-as-a-Service

How eEnergy and Redaptive are changing the rules of engagement (and repayment) for energy efficiency upgrades Let’s face it – we’d all love a building that practically runs itself on sunshine and a clean conscience. But upgrading your office building to something worthy of a sustainability Pinterest board doesn’

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Midweek Scoop

So, You Want to Start a Political Party…

If you’ve spent the past week doomscrolling and wondering whether Succession was a documentary, you may have seen it: Elon Musk has launched his own political party, and he’s called it – brace yourself – the America Party.

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Midweek Scoop

Wimbledon May Be on, But the Real Game is Off the Court

Wimbledon is back – complete with Centre Court dramatics, overpriced strawberries, and enough Pimm’s to sink a yacht. The sporting world once again marvels at the precision and physicality of tennis at its peak. But far from the courts of SW19, a quieter transformation is underway: elite players are turning

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Midweek Scoop

Metro Bank and the Curious Case of Banking Valuations

Or: how to flog a once-flailing bank with a fresh narrative and a dash of interest rate fairy dust. Just over a year ago, Metro Bank looked about as lively as Brighton pier a rainy bank holiday.  Its shares were worth about as much as a Freddo, its bonds were

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Midweek Scoop

Up, Up and Away – The Space Elevator Dream and the Finance Behind It

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Midweek Scoop

Talking Shop: The Real Business Behind the Conference Lanyard

The Global ABS conference has once again taken over Barcelona. Flights are full of navy suits, hotel lobbies echo with talk of regulation, and someone, somewhere, is still looking for the right meeting room. But while delegates gather to trade market insights and LinkedIn pleasantries, there’s another story unfolding

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Midweek Scoop

Private Equity in Law Firms – The Reshaping of a Profession

In early 2025, two former senior partners of a major international law firm quietly launched a new advisory business. Their mission? To help law firms and private equity investors navigate a world that, until recently, barely existed: buying and selling stakes in law firms. Not so long ago, the idea

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Midweek Scoop

Victoria’s Secret Has a Secret Weapon (and It’s Called a Poison Pill)

In news that has nothing to do with lace or lingerie, Victoria’s Secret has just adopted a poison pill – and no, this one’s not a metaphor for a failed perfume launch. It’s a classic American boardroom manoeuvre: legally sound, routinely controversial. The trigger? BBRC International, helmed by

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Midweek Scoop

Courts in Session: How Local Tennis Clubs Can Evolve Without Going Bust

Across the UK, local tennis clubs are quietly rethinking their game plan. The Sunday morning doubles still roll on, the committee still debates the price of tea bags, but there’s something new stirring behind the baseline. A fresh crop of racquet sports – pickleball and padel – are bouncing into view,