Timelines
How the main stories unfold, day after day: each timeline gathers the articles about one event, with a summary.
- Palantir's Tom Watson warns Labour against 'mob rule' on government contracts
Tom Watson, the former Labour deputy leader and a Palantir executive, said 'mob rule' must not dictate the awarding of government contracts, and that the tech firm would work with a Reform UK government on immigration crackdowns if the situation arose, The Guardian reported. Lord Watson, who became a senior vice president at the US tech giant in September, warned that his party could face 'trouble' if it bowed to 'mob rule' on procurement procedures, and said Palantir is 'very targeted by the people that are targeting Israeli companies', according to City A.M.
- Upper Crust owner SSP sees a sharp drop in passengers around Middle East travel hubs
SSP Group, the owner of Upper Crust, has seen a sharp drop in passengers around Middle East travel hubs. The group said its financial performance in recent months had been 'resilient' in a 'challenging environment', the Evening Standard and The Independent reported.
- Virgin unveils its future cross-Channel train as it gears up to take on Eurostar
Virgin has unveiled a mock-up of its future cross-Channel train, pledging to create 'something genuinely new' as it gears up to take on Eurostar, The Guardian reports. The group plans to launch services from London in 2030 and hopes to outshine its competitor with design inspiration from its airline, cruise and hotel arms, while The Independent says it will draw on its other travel businesses for the functionality and comfort of the trains.
- Adidas sues Australian label White Fox over a 'deceptively similar' four-stripe design
Adidas is suing the Australian online retailer White Fox in the federal court for selling clothes featuring a four-stripe design it calls 'deceptively similar', The Guardian reports. The German sportswear brand alleges that White Fox has the 'intention to trade off our reputation', according to The Independent, and wants the Sydney-based label to stop selling the clothes and pay damages, BBC News reports.
- ASOS says a hacker posing as a trusted contact accessed customers' personal data
At around 10am on Tuesday 6 October, users of the ASOS app received a push notification titled 'ASOS HACKED' claiming that hackers had 'fully compromised the Snowflake instance' and threatening to leak it, with a link to the Telegram messaging service. ASOS said it was investigating unauthorised activity involving third-party platforms it uses to communicate with customers, apologised and urged customers to disregard the alert, and its shares fell almost 12% in London. On 8 October, the retailer said an 'unauthorised party' had impersonated a trusted contact to gain log-in details and had accessed some personal information, including names and contact details, while telling customers that payment details and passwords were not compromised. It warned customers about the full extent of the breach after the hackers contacted the BBC, which reported that names, addresses, phone numbers, emails and customer numbers are now in the hands of cyber criminals. On 9 October, Snowflake said the breach was not caused by a vulnerability in its platform.
- Elon Musk takes aim at Mukesh Ambani as Starlink struggles to launch in India
Elon Musk has taken pot-shots at Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, as Starlink struggles to launch in India, BBC News reported. According to The Independent, Musk asked whether the billionaire Ambani is the 'real boss of India' in a dig at Modi, and accused unnamed oligarchs of trying to 'maintain monopolistic chokehold on Indian people'.
- Carlsberg to shut the historic Marston's Brewery, with 310 jobs at risk
Carlsberg is to shut the historic Marston's Brewery, putting 310 jobs at risk. The brewer said the move is driven by structural decline in the ale category and a 'need to create greater long-term value'.
- Deloitte fined £6m by the Financial Reporting Council over its audits of Go-Ahead
The Financial Reporting Council has fined Deloitte £6m over its audits of Go-Ahead. The watchdog said it found a 'highly concerning pattern of failure', over a five-year period according to The Independent and the Evening Standard, and over four years according to the Financial Times.
- Ikea launches second-hand marketplace for its own furniture and homewares
Ikea has launched a second-hand marketplace in the UK on which members of its Ikea Family loyalty scheme can list the retailer's furniture and homewares. Items bought through it cost on average 60% less than new, and some are offered for free. It is billed as a rival to Vinted and eBay, and the UK rollout follows successful pilots in Spain and Norway.
- Eurostar passengers can now book European Sleeper night trains on the same ticket
Travellers can now book a Eurostar train and a European Sleeper night train together in one booking flow, as the sleeper train operator adds London routes to its ticket website. Ticketholders can travel from London to Brussels and beyond, which Metro sums up as falling asleep in London and waking up in Germany.
- Just Eat Takeaway orders return to growth after nearly five years
Just Eat Takeaway's orders have returned to growth after nearly five years. Its owner Prosus said worldwide orders grew 0.1% year-on-year in September.
- VodafoneThree raises its cost-cutting target to £1bn a year by 2032
VodafoneThree, Vodafone's UK business, is accelerating its cost cutting to reach £1 billion by 2032. It has earmarked another £300 million of annual cost cuts on top of its original £700 million-a-year target.
- Tesco sales boosted by online shopping as consumers hunt for 'value'
Tesco's sales were boosted by online shopping as consumers hunted for 'value'. Its online sales surged by 8.4% in the UK, with average grocery orders growing, and sales at its rapid delivery arm Whoosh soared by 37%.
- Canada's Weston family strikes a £6.7bn deal to buy Boots from Sycamore Partners
The billionaire Weston family of Canada has struck a deal to buy Boots for £6.7bn ($8.9bn), in an agreement announced on Wednesday afternoon. Wittington Investments, the company representing the Westons' Canadian operations, said on Wednesday it will buy Boots from its private equity owners, Sycamore Partners. The deal includes Boots' retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, the No7 Beauty Company, and its Thailand and franchise arm. City A.M. says it scuppers hopes that the high street giant could return to the London Stock Exchange.
- Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs by the end of 2027 as letter volumes fall
Royal Mail is to cut up to 2,500 jobs as part of an organisational review, with the cuts focusing on head office and 'support function roles' and the restructure to be completed by the end of next year. The company, which says it is undergoing a 'significant transformation', said letter volumes have declined by more than 70% since their peak. The postal service has been fined a total of £37m since 2023 for missing delivery targets set by Ofcom.
- Flooring firm Headlam cuts more jobs after administration, its shares to be delisted
Flooring firm Headlam has cut more jobs after falling into administration. The firm also confirmed on Wednesday that its shares will now be delisted from the London Stock Exchange.
- Grosvenor Casinos owner Rank Group to pay £5m after the Gambling Commission finds failures
Rank Group, the owner of Grosvenor Casinos, is to pay a £5m penalty after regulators identified a series of compliance issues within three of its casino operators. The Gambling Commission's investigation found failures to meet anti-money laundering and social responsibility duties, including duty of care to customers.
- HSBC plans job cuts across its UK wealth business, the Financial Times reports
HSBC plans sweeping job cuts across its UK wealth business as part of an AI push, the Financial Times reported, with reductions in roles affecting managers, specialists and financial advisers. The bank is in the middle of a consultation period with staff over the proposed changes.
- Hostelworld says the Iran war is weighing on long-haul travel demand, and its shares fall
Hostelworld said the Iran war was weighing on long-haul travel demand. Shares in the company dropped by around 7.3% on Wednesday morning as a result, striking their lowest level for almost four years.
- Hollywood Bowl says it stayed 'resilient' as summer heatwaves hit its sales
Hollywood Bowl, Britain's biggest ten-pin bowling operator, said the summer's 'exceptionally prolonged, dry weather' had 'heavily impacted' its trading, with like-for-like sales in the UK down 2.6% in the second half. The chain said it had been able to offset some of the hot weather impact by using dynamic pricing, and its share price rose.