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John Gapper

John Gapper

Financial Times

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Running the BBC has become an impossible job

The broadcaster should rethink the role of director-general and reclaim editorial independence

previous day 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Tips are taking the place of restaurant wages

UK hospitality chains have increased service charges to offset the high cost of employment

31.10.2025 7

Financial Times

John Gapper

Britain is inviting its companies to emigrate

The UK’s rules for secondary listings on the London Stock Exchange could drive British business abroad

17.10.2025 4

Financial Times

John Gapper

The convenient truth of the North Sea drilling ban

The government can allow more UK oil and gas production without breaking its clean energy pledges

18.09.2025 4

Financial Times

John Gapper

What I witnessed at the battle of Orgreave

An inquiry into the pivotal confrontation of the 1984-85 miners’ strike should not sanitise history

14.08.2025 20

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John Gapper

Britain is squeezing AstraZeneca too tight

NHS curbs on drug prices have alienated UK pharma companies and become self-defeating

09.08.2025 7

Financial Times

John Gapper

Britain should come clean about its water industry

The government must admit that higher investment means rising utility bills for customers

24.07.2025 5

Financial Times

John Gapper

Britain cannot afford to scare foreign residents away

The end of the non-dom tax regime has been badly handled and risks economic damage

04.07.2025 2

Financial Times

John Gapper

Thatcher’s legacy endures in Labour’s industrial strategy

A 10-year plan to raise productivity and growth depends on tackling vested interests and unleashing investment

26.06.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

British surgical robots should operate around the world

Cambridge start-up CMR Surgical has innovative technology but it needs global ambition

19.06.2025 5

Financial Times

John Gapper

Wise’s move to New York is an emergency for the UK economy

The government should reform taxes to push savers and pension funds to invest in London-listed equities

13.06.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Welcome to the age of cyber insecurity in business

The hacking attack on Marks and Spencer shows breaches are inevitable and firms must focus on resilience

30.05.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Trump’s tariffs threaten Ireland’s pharma fortune

The country’s windfall from overseas drug companies was aided by the US president’s own tax bill

24.04.2025 3

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John Gapper

Lloyd’s of London is Britain’s strangest success

The inimitable insurance market has to ensure it remains attractive in the face of global competition

10.04.2025 4

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John Gapper

Ben & Jerry’s fudge has come back to bite Unilever

The ice-cream maker’s strange legal agreement with its acquirer 25 years ago was bound to cause trouble

27.03.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Industrial strategy turns from green to battleship grey

Trump’s hard line on Ukraine and Nato poses difficult choices for the UK’s defence industry

13.03.2025 30

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John Gapper

Thames Water has to keep borrowing and carry on

The public water utility cannot avoid a debt refinancing, despite the horrifying expense

06.03.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Do not let Great British Railways crush competition

Labour will damage growth and innovation by curbing independent regulation of the rail network

20.02.2025 20

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John Gapper

Drax’s power is not really green — but Britain needs it

The UK government’s deal to retain the biomass electricity generating station is a painful but necessary compromise

13.02.2025 20

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John Gapper

The future of British food depends on giant freezer cubes

Automated stores run by global companies such as NewCold have become critical in keeping supermarkets stocked

11.02.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

The CMA should be nudged on antitrust, not bullied

The flaws of the UK’s competition regulator can be corrected without government interference

06.02.2025 20

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John Gapper

BP is a victim of wishful thinking on fossil fuels

The UK energy company trails Shell and others in value after years of offering investors false hope

23.01.2025 10

Financial Times

John Gapper

Listen to the barbarian at the UK investment trust gate

Boaz Weinstein’s assault on a historic financial sector reveals an opportunity for other investors

16.01.2025 10

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John Gapper

It takes imagination to regenerate a historic city  

The 20-year transformation of a former Regency naval yard is changing Plymouth

14.01.2025 10

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John Gapper

The silent business of digital identity has remade Relx

Company once known as Reed Elsevier has moved from legal and scientific publishing into AI fraud detection

09.01.2025 10

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John Gapper

British music’s star still shines amid the economic gloom

The Beatles launched a creative cluster that remains vital to the country’s financial future

26.12.2024 6

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John Gapper

The great Guinness shortage has lessons for Diageo

Consumer companies should beware neglecting historic brands in favour of celebrity start-ups

19.12.2024 5

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John Gapper

James Dyson is right to fight for British strawberries

The UK’s largest commercial farmer is trying to create a berry brand against intense global competition

12.12.2024 7

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John Gapper

Christie’s has brought the dinosaur auction show to London

Scientists have been priced out by billionaires in the global market for prehistoric fossils

10.12.2024 3

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John Gapper

London should take a chance on Shein’s fast-fashion IPO

The risks in the business and governance of the fast-fashion group do not justify rejecting a UK listing

28.11.2024 20

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John Gapper

Britain should not gamble with its car industry again

Labour is courting hubris by trying to beat the EU’s 2035 deadline for EV transition

22.11.2024 3

Financial Times

John Gapper

China has trapped the tiger of AstraZeneca’s growth

The UK pharmaceutical company needs to resolve a corruption crackdown affecting senior executives

14.11.2024 9

Financial Times

John Gapper

British banks face an expensive motor finance crash

Giving dealers incentives to increase loan interest rates for car buyers could be ruinous for lenders

08.11.2024 4

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John Gapper

Tate & Lyle gave up sugar for ultra-processed food

Now the UK-listed ingredients company faces a potential takeover after turning its back on its sucrose origins

24.10.2024 30

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John Gapper

London pushes into a new immersive market

Theatrical venture draws on city’s tradition to extend light shows beyond art

22.10.2024 7

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John Gapper

WPP has been outsmarted by its old rival Publicis

The UK advertising group led by Mark Read has lost momentum and looks vulnerable

17.10.2024 10

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John Gapper

Rise of Gail’s shows big British appetite for craft bakery

The private equity-backed chain is accused of displacing independents by selling sourdough at scale

15.10.2024 4

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John Gapper

The animal spirits of British business need to be lifted

The UK government’s international investment summit next week comes at a gloomy moment

10.10.2024 5

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John Gapper

The price of private equity may be too high for Asda

TDR Capital’s majority ownership of the struggling UK supermarket chain is a test for the industry

03.10.2024 5

Financial Times

John Gapper

Rightmove’s property data is more valuable than news

A £6.1bn bid for the UK’s property listings group by Rupert Murdoch’s REA shows that publishing has changed

26.09.2024 4

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John Gapper

The Post Office should become humbler and slimmer

State-owned company that prosecuted postmasters needs to cut costs and offer better rewards

20.09.2024 5

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John Gapper

Rolls-Royce is on a smoother flight path at last

The UK aircraft engine manufacturer is starting to live up to its distinguished name

13.09.2024 5

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John Gapper

How to stay happy when you have lost a fortune

John Foley, co-founder of Peloton, is remarkably unshaken by his Icarus-like fall from being a billionaire

30.08.2024 3

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John Gapper

The new gold rush reflects the world’s deep worries

The price of gold reached a record high this week, driven by concerns over inflation and instability

23.08.2024 2

Financial Times

John Gapper

Mars will find Pop-Tarts and Pringles hard to digest

The US confectionery company’s $36bn acquisition of Kellanova makes its health challenge greater

17.08.2024 8

Financial Times

John Gapper