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    Helen Thomas

    Business columnist

    Helen Thomas writes about British business and finance for the FT. She has previously written for the Lex column, for FT Alphaville as well as covering M&A and the mining sector. From 2013, she worked at the Wall Street Journal and at BBC Newsnight before rejoining the FT in 2021.
    Email Helen Thomas @helentbiz  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Wednesday, 20 September, 2023
      UK infrastructure
      Dithering and indecision: the British infrastructure curse

      Failure to make and stick to plans means big projects cost far more than they should while hampering their benefits

    • Monday, 18 September, 2023
      UK energy
      We’re back to a Big Six energy market. So now what?

      A decade of reform has left the UK with a power system in danger of failing on competition, innovation and fairness

    • Wednesday, 13 September, 2023
      Electric vehicles
      The EV car crash is a warning for Europe’s industrial transition

      China is so far ahead in the electric vehicles market that its competitors are trailing in the dust

    • Monday, 11 September, 2023
      Retail & Consumer industry
      The supermarkets’ next big product is your data

      Personalised online and in-store advertising could prove very profitable for retail chains

    • Wednesday, 6 September, 2023
      UK local government finance
      Local government audit is a serious mess

      Birmingham city council’s bankruptcy highlights the worrying state of local government finances

    • Monday, 4 September, 2023
      Equities
      Why is the London Stock Exchange muscling in on the private equity world?

      The market wants to give founders, investors and employees in private companies a way to sell their shares

      The logo of London Stock Exchange Group Plc in the office atrium in the City of London
    • Monday, 31 July, 2023
      UK economy
      These superfund zombies won’t take over the pensions market

      For-profit superfunds raise concerns about regulatory arbitrage but the need for them is much reduced after market changes

    • Wednesday, 26 July, 2023
      Construction sector
      M&S has a point: blocking redevelopment on Oxford Street is anti-business

      In absence of proper policy, decision looks arbitrary and confusing

      Marks and Spencer’s Orchard House on Oxford Street, in London, England
    • Monday, 24 July, 2023
      UK financial regulation
      The cost of living crisis is no reason to buy now, regulate later

      BNPL can be useful but it should be monitored alongside other forms of consumer credit

      Close-up of a girl paying online with a credit card on a laptop
    • Tuesday, 18 July, 2023
      Working It podcast19 min listen
      Why are sexual harassment and assault still happening at work?

      Sexual harassment and assault remain far too common

    • Tuesday, 18 July, 2023
      Mergers & Acquisitions
      Global antitrust needs police as well as guard dogs

      The recent Federal Trade Commission defeat on Microsoft-Activision is a blow for those wanting to reverse decades of lax enforcement

      Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission
    • Monday, 17 July, 2023
      Telecoms
      Why Vodafone’s megamerger could have a 3.9% problem

      Many mobile companies add an identical surcharge to bills, attracting the attention of regulators

      An illuminated Vodaphone logo on its regional headquarters in Madrie
    • Wednesday, 12 July, 2023
      Pensions industry
      The future of UK pensions: delayed and confused

      Flurry of consultations does not inspire confidence in chancellor’s promised clear ‘direction of travel’

      Commuters wait to cross a junction near London Cannon Street railway station
    • Monday, 10 July, 2023
      UK banks
      Forget Farage: who will fight for the genuine unbanked millions?

      The barriers to bank accounts deserve attention, no matter who is affected in society

    • Wednesday, 5 July, 2023
      Financial services
      Let’s kill off the City’s old-fashioned paper fetish once and for all

      Digitisation of the UK’s shareholding system has been blocked by vested interests for decades

      Douglas Flint
    • Monday, 3 July, 2023
      Utilities
      Water has a private equity, not a private ownership, issue

      The listed groups are less geared and have made a better start at tackling problems with ailing infrastructure

      A glass of fresh water being filled from the kitchen tap
    • Wednesday, 28 June, 2023
      UK banks
      So much for UK savers and homeowners — what about the have-neithers?

      Research suggests 3mn people have borrowed from an illegal money lender over the past three years

      A row of houses
    • Monday, 26 June, 2023
      Mortgages
      The UK mortgage market may need an overhaul, not handouts

      There need to be longer-term questions about the peculiarities of housing borrowing in Britain

      A street of terraced houses in York, UK
    • Wednesday, 21 June, 2023
      Food security
      Murky world of global food trading is too important to ignore

      Dominance by a handful of companies over the flows of grain and other commodities deserves much more scrutiny

      A mountain of corn grits inside a grain terminal
    • Monday, 19 June, 2023
      UK economy
      Meddling with regulators’ duties is an unfortunate UK failing

      Watchdogs are burdened with new social policy obligations, with mixed results

    • Tuesday, 13 June, 2023
      Sexual misconduct allegations
      When it comes to harassment, the City must stop protecting its wallet

      Banks and asset managers were quick to sever relationships with Crispin Odey after the FT’s investigation

    • Monday, 12 June, 2023
      Confederation of British Industry
      The CBI may need to break up to survive

      A ‘good lobby/bad lobby’ proposal shows the challenges facing the group as it attempts to rebuild

    • Wednesday, 7 June, 2023
      Climate change
      Don’t let America’s ‘war on woke’ kill off climate collaboration

      The disintegration of the insurance sector alliance under Gfanz emphasises such coalitions will need to adapt

      Smoke and steam rise up from a power plant
    • Thursday, 1 June, 2023
      Philip Morris International Inc
      PMI should forget wellness and focus on smokers who want to quit

      The tobacco company can justifiably claim expertise in developing alternative products that smokers will actually try

      A woman smokes a cigarette
    • Thursday, 1 June, 2023
      Pharmaceuticals sector
      Ailing UK life sciences sector will need further treatment

      Policy prescriptions are plentiful but momentum and money behind them is lacking

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