Here are some of the top business stories making the national headlines.
Big firms a lot more confident about the future
Confidence among finance chiefs at the UK’s biggest companies has seen its sharpest rise since 2020. Find out more via the BBC.
Barclays joins ranks of investment banks wielding jobs axe
Barclays is joining the ranks of global investment banks taking the axe to jobs amid a slowdown in dealmaking and stock market flotations. Find out more via Sky News.
Ministers ignored red flags over Covid fraud, says former head of SFO
The former head of Britain’s financial crime prosecutor has said “red flags were ignored” in the rush to distribute taxpayer-funded emergency loans to businesses during the pandemic, and questioned whether fraud was taken seriously by the government. Find out more via The Guardian.
NHS ‘spends more than £1m a week hiring private ambulances for emergency calls’
The NHS is spending more than £1 million a week hiring private ambulances to attend emergency calls, according to research by a trade union. Find out more via the Evening Standard.
