Founder & Publisher
Sam Allcock
Digital media entrepreneur and founder of London Business Daily
Verified contributor United Kingdom
Sam Allcock is a digital media and public relations entrepreneur and the founder and publisher of London Business Daily. He has built and runs a portfolio of independent online news and media brands, and oversees the title’s coverage of the companies, deals, people and ideas shaping business in London: from finance and professional services to commercial property, technology, startups, hospitality and people moves.
Analysis by Sam Allcock
- Finance
London diesel prices: 32.2p a litre separates the cheapest forecourt and the dearest motorway services
Official Fuel Finder figures to 9 November 2026 put diesel at 189.7p a litre at the cheapest forecourt open to all drivers in London and 221.9p at the dearest, against a London average of 199.0p and a UK average of 197.1p.
- Companies
London firm Futurelearn wins £92m contract from University of York
University of York has awarded the firm a contract worth £92m including VAT for "University of York, Transforming Online Education".
- Companies
Southwark firm Ernst & Young wins £13m contract from The Water Services Regulation Authority
The Water Services Regulation Authority has awarded the firm a contract worth £13m excluding VAT for "Independent Monitor, Thames Water: Independent Monitor (IM), Thames Water".
- Companies
Feltham firm SAP (UK) wins £26.2m contract from Sellafield
Sellafield Limited has awarded the firm a contract worth £26.2m excluding VAT for "Core HR Software as a Service (SaaS) Licensing to include Success Plans: Core HR SaaS Licensing to include Recruitment Module".
- Finance
London company insolvencies rise 11% to 470 in October
Gazette notices show 470 administrations, creditors' voluntary liquidations and compulsory liquidations in London in October 2026, up 11% from 424 in September 2026.
- Companies
London firms won 1,464 public contracts worth £1.99bn in October 2026
The largest was £93.2m from NHS Essex Integrated Care Board to Vita Health Solutions Ltd. The median award was £113,023, in award notices published in October 2026.
- Companies
London firm Evo Digital Technologies wins £20.3m contract from Islington & Shoreditch Housing Association
Islington & Shoreditch Housing Association Limited has awarded the firm a contract worth £20.3m excluding VAT for "Digital Property Maintenance and Repairs Services".
- Companies
Biodance opens first UK counter at Selfridges London
Korean skincare brand Biodance has launched its first standalone UK counter in the Beauty Hall at Selfridges' Oxford Street store in London.
- Finance
Petrofac Engineering Limited takes 242 days to pay suppliers, the slowest of 2,085 large companies registered in London
Large companies with a registered office in London took a median of 27 days to pay their suppliers in their latest statutory reports, against 31 days across all 6,220 UK companies reporting. Of the 2,085, 120 averaged more than 60 days.
- Finance
London diesel prices: 37.0p a litre separates the cheapest forecourt and the dearest motorway services
Official Fuel Finder figures to 2 November 2026 put diesel at 185.9p a litre at the cheapest forecourt open to all drivers in London and 222.9p at the dearest, against a London average of 199.8p and a UK average of 198.7p.
- Companies
John Lewis launches its 20th Christmas advert with Dame Kristin Scott Thomas and a Sam Fender soundtrack
The retailer's 2026 advert, Gloria and Pickles, carries the tagline "Don't give up on giving" and was made by Saatchi & Saatchi. It premiered on 3 November, and John Lewis profits from the Sam Fender single go to Action for Children.
- Tech
Salvation Army swaps thin clients at nearly 750 UK sites as it moves off Citrix
The charity, which moved into its Denmark Hill headquarters in London in 2023, has bought around 1,500 10ZiG devices as it shifts its IT estate to Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.
- Companies
RunThrough launches road-closed Kensington 10K for March 2027
The events company will close every road on a single-lap course from Holland Park through Notting Hill on Sunday 7 March 2027.
- Property
Westminster buyers need three times local pay to get a mortgage, study finds
Everest Mortgages ranked 75 UK cities by the gap between local earnings and the income lenders would want to see, and Westminster came out as the hardest place for its own workers to buy a home. London as a whole ranked third.
- Property
Corgan study of 420 London renters highlights affordability and location as key drivers of housing choice
Architecture and design firm Corgan has published a report on London's rental market based on a survey of 420 renters in the capital, part of a wider international research programme.
- Hospitality
Syon Park says Friday and Sunday wedding bookings and extra-night stays are up 27% in three years
The West London estate says couples are turning the wedding day into a wedding weekend, and its Saturday wedding package now includes a two-night stay.
- Finance
PayCaptain says average wage advance rose 10 per cent in 2026
The London payroll platform's data puts the average advance at £130 in September, up from £119 in January, with most users who took emergency cash working in leisure.
- Finance
London-based Monzo Business reaches one million business customers, six years after launch
The digital bank, registered at Broadwalk House in London, announced the milestone on 28 July 2026 and says one in six UK businesses now bank with it.
- Finance
59% of London small businesses are confident of growth, Monzo Business survey finds, behind the South East, Scotland and East Midlands
Regional figures from the Monzo Business Money Moves Report, released in the week of 26 October 2026, put London fourth for growth confidence, while 26% of London firms cite financial admin as a source of stress.
- Hospitality
John Lewis opens its flagship Platter restaurant at Oxford Street, seating 300
The Oxford Street shop is the flagship for Platter, the restaurant concept that will replace John Lewis restaurants in 32 stores by the end of 2027, with an on-site coffee roastery and a terrace.
- Companies
Waitrose opens its first new supermarket in eight years in Cricklewood and confirms a Chalk Farm store
The 18,000 sq ft shop on Cricklewood Broadway opened on 22 October 2026 with 69 new Partners, and Waitrose named Chalk Farm as one of four newly acquired sites.
- Companies
London Chamber urges reversal of employer National Insurance rise at the 28 October Budget as 90% of London firms stop recruiting
The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry says nine in ten London businesses did not try to recruit for a second quarter running, and wants the Chancellor to cut the cost of hiring.
- Companies
London business births fall 5.9% in the first half of 2026, with Greenwich and Westminster down by a fifth or more
Office for National Statistics figures show 34,745 new businesses in London from January to June 2026, down from 36,910 a year earlier. Brent, Sutton and Barking and Dagenham bucked the trend.
- Hospitality
London has the biggest food hygiene inspection backlog of 17 UK cities, with 1,565 premises waiting
An analysis of Food Standards Agency ratings by the training provider Virtual College ranks London 15th of 17 cities for food hygiene, with an average of 4.44 out of 5.
- Property
Four London boroughs treated less than 1% of their minor roads in 2025/26, with Lambeth at 0.0%
Department for Transport figures show Lambeth, Islington, Hounslow and Southwark among 21 English highway authorities below 1%, against 3.0% across England. The City of London was highest in the capital at 9.1%.
- Finance
London diesel prices: 33.2p a litre separates the cheapest forecourt and the dearest motorway services
Official Fuel Finder figures to 22 October 2026 put diesel at 189.7p a litre at the cheapest forecourt open to all drivers in London and 222.9p at the dearest, against a London average of 200.3p and a UK average of 198.8p.
- Finance
London businesses used 22,716 GWh of electricity in 2024 as Britain's smallest firms pay a record 38.36p a unit
Business electricity use across London's 33 council areas was 17.5% lower than in 2012, while the smallest firms nationally paid 38.36p per kWh in Q2 2026.
- Companies
Barking and Dagenham has London's highest share of trades businesses at 30.7%
An analysis of ONS business counts by the field service software firm Field Ascend finds trades make up almost three in ten business sites in Barking and Dagenham and Havering, against about one in sixteen in Kensington and Chelsea.
- Finance
London has the largest regional benefits bill at £24.2bn, TaxPayers' Alliance analysis finds
The campaign group's Welfare Map puts Tottenham's bill for six benefits at £624.9m in the 12 months to March 2026, the highest of 575 constituencies in England and Wales.