Last week I headed out to Spain to visit Inditex’s head office and factory in Madrid, which fully lived up to what insiders had described as being the “Willy Wonka factory of fashion” I sat down with its boss to talk about the retailer’s growth plans👇🗞️ thetimes.co.uk/article/963b6d…

Absolutely delighted to be named the Gold Winner for the #30toWatch Journalism Awards. Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended journalists who I am proud to be among.

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is the first guest speaker at this year’s #TimesCEOSummit. He says it’s “too close to call” whether or not he will retain his seat at the upcoming election. “I may not be an MP after the next election, but that’s democracy.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says “it will be tough” on chances of Tories winning election but says he thinks they can do better than wipeout polls suggest. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be up later this morning. #TimesCEOSummit

Next up at #TimesCEOSummit, Richard Fletcher, The Times’ business editor, is joined by Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4, and C.S. Venkatakrishnan

Mehreen Khan, economics editor at The Times, is joined on stage by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor #TimesCEOSummit

Vague rumours of bid interest in Britvic. Over 1.4 million shares traded today, almost 4x the average and the stock was up more than 6% at one point, before closing up 4.7%. Or maybe it's the arrival of summer!

Britvic confirms it received and rejected a £12.50 per share offer from Carlsberg

Where is the money coming from to pay for "lots of promises?" PM Rishi Sunak says "it's right that we make savings from the welfare bill", while Keir Starmer says everything in Labour's manifesto is "fully costed and fully funded" Follow live: bbc.in/3RLKXuF

📰 Carpetright collapsed into administration owing about £80 million to creditors, including suppliers, customers and landlords that face being left almost entirely out of pocket, according to documents seen by The Times thetimes.com/article/f53863…

And, as Jessica Newman writes, PwC, the administrator, has appointed property agents at CBRE to sell 239 leasehold sites, including those at out-of-town retail parks, warehouses and concessions. Bids for individual units or a portfolio of properties were due in at 10am today

Jessica Newman Carpetright’s employees have also expressed disappointment at its owners’ decision to fly to Las Vegas to play poker the week before the company collapsed and while sales talks were taking place

🟥The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the first time in over four years. The MPC voted 5-4 in favour of lowering the base rate to 5% from 5.25%

🔺NEW: The Bank of England cut interest rates for the first time in over four years, providing much needed relief to millions of homeowners and families still reeling from the higher cost of living ⬇️ thetimes.com/business-money…

Exclusive - Barclays is lifting its bonus cap for material risk-takers, who will be able to earn 10 times their fixed pay under the new rules. The changes apply to about 1,600 staff globally

Covid surges in demand for goods; climate change depleting water levels in trading arteries; ships getting stuck in canals. These crises have thrown the fluidity of the global shipping network into the spotlight. How is it coping? With Isabella Fish 🐟 thetimes.com/business-money…

Happy to say that I've finished the graduate scheme at The Times and will now be working as a general business reporter, primarily covering trade!

🪙 "Invest, invest, invest" 🪙 We've finally seen the first Labour budget in 14 years, and the first ever made by a female chancellor. I'll dive into her announcements, and what they mean for you, in a thread of charts here 📈👇 (I'll continue updating through the day) 🧵 1/

In his annual visit to the White House ahead of St Patrick’s day Micheál Martin is navigating a tricky trade relationship with the US 🇮🇪🇺🇸 Irish officials remain nervous about what could be coming down the line as Trump’s trade war escalates 👥 thetimes.com/article/945458…

The new boss of Merlin Entertainments, the world's second largest attractions group, has announced it will unite all 3 operating segments into one business as it looks to drive profitability. Comes as profits fell 15% in 2024 ⁦Times Business⁩ thetimes.co.uk/article/merlin…