Companies

Published: 17 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Britain’s economic picture has become more complicated ahead of the Bank of England’s latest interest-rate decision, with new analysis suggesting that the UK economy may have been more productive than previously estimated even as inflationary pressures and a weakening labour market create difficult choices for policymakers. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee was due to announce its...

Published: 17 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online OpenAI has disclosed six cases of unexpected or concerning behaviour observed in its artificial intelligence models as the company introduces a new framework for tracking, investigating and publicly reporting incidents involving what it calls “model misalignment”. The framework, announced on 16 September, is intended to make disclosures more systematic and more frequent. OpenAI said it had previously published...

Published: 17 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online British fashion and homeware retailer Next has raised its full-year profit forecast for the fourth time this year after stronger-than-expected sales during the first half, with unusually warm weather helping drive demand for summer clothing. The FTSE 100-listed retailer increased its forecast for full-year pre-tax profit by £12m to £1.26bn after reporting a stronger first-half performance than it...

Published: 17 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online A cross-party House of Lords committee has called for a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising in Great Britain, arguing that much stronger action is needed to reduce gambling-related harm and respond to the rapid expansion of digital marketing. The recommendation is contained in a new 173-page follow-up report from the House of Lords Liaison Committee, which examined developments...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, Coral and BetMGM, is preparing to cut around 400 customer-care jobs in the UK, just weeks after the gambling group reported stronger-than-expected financial performance for the first half of 2026. The company has begun a consultation process that could affect roughly one in five of its 2,000 customer-care positions. The proposed reductions come...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online A long-running attempt to develop an oilfield at Horse Hill in Surrey has entered a new phase after the company that spent years pursuing the project sold its interests for £1m, while the new owners have renewed efforts to secure planning permission for oil extraction. The sale marks a sharp change in the fortunes of the Horse Hill...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption has continued examining financial and political relationships surrounding property developer Jean Nassif, with Liberal factional figure Jeremy Greenwood facing detailed questions about payments, consultancy work and his dealings with the collapsed Toplace development company. Greenwood returned to the ICAC inquiry on Wednesday as counsel assisting the commission, Peggy Dwyer SC,...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude AI model, has signed an agreement to use a major proposed data centre project in western Queensland, marking the company’s first major data-centre commitment in Australia. The proposed Western Downs Digital Park, near Dalby in Queensland’s Western Downs region, has an estimated value of about A$31.9 billion and is planned...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online A Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul has been fined after serving customers a dessert topped with ants that had not been approved for use as a food ingredient under South Korean regulations. The Seoul Western District Court on Wednesday fined the company operating the restaurant 10 million won and its chief executive 15 million won after finding them guilty...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online The company that spent more than a decade pursuing oil production at Horse Hill in Surrey has sold its interests in the controversial site for £1m, after the project became the subject of a landmark Supreme Court ruling on climate impacts. The sale marks a major change in direction for the former UK Oil & Gas, which has...