John Gapper

Blackstone’s Schwarzman stirs London art market with record purchases Private equity chief spends millions on 18th century society portraits by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough

A columnist occasionally stumbles across a story, and feels the need to follow it up www.ft.com/content/b403...

Lightbody, who joined Luminance from Darktrace

The level of nominative determinism in this line is off the charts on.ft.com/4hlUItK by @johngapper.bsky.social

Legal AI is reaching deep into the workplace Technology allows companies to automate drafting of many contracts rather than relying on lawyers

I wrote about how AI promised to revolutionise law firms but is having more impact on other companies. There is an amazing cluster of UK start-ups, including Luminance, Robin AI and Genie AI www.ft.com/content/bdc2...

Would also highlight the work Nudge is doing on Union Street, very much an example of the patient and imaginative the piece highlights as being needed. Takes social enterprises like this, as well as traditional developers, in places like this ahfund.org.uk/projects/gau.... @archhfund.org.uk

... that was my conclusion from a recent visit to the University of York

Universities need new ways to make their research pay Public and private funding are both vital for institutions such as the University of York as international student fees fall

Universities are losing funding from international students so they have to get wilier about financing research with private projects www.ft.com/content/a824...

She ain't being "axed" ...

The story says that all of these contracts are being transferred to Tortoise, including hers ...

James Dyson is right to fight for British strawberries [FREE TO READ] The UK’s largest commercial farmer is trying to create a berry brand against intense global competition

My piece on a David and Goliath fight in the global berry market: Dyson vs Driscoll's . . . on.ft.com/3DcLZva

Seen on the other place, but Muriel Spark here showing the talent of laying it on thin.

Christie’s has brought the dinosaur auction show to London [FREE TO READ] Scientists have been priced out by billionaires in the global market for prehistoric fossils

My piece on how three dinosaurs from Wyoming roamed the earth and ended up in London on.ft.com/41v9Q3h

And the train goes "duh-duh-duh-duh" in a satisfyingly nostalgic manner

The train announcer says "Skegness" in a loving tone of voice

I suppose if you constantly argue that the media is dead and journalists merely copy out the internet and all reporting has been superseded by X, it has a certain logic. OTO some people, eg me, may seek better access to information elsewhere. The beauty of competition!

Homeless people to be given cash in first major UK trial to reduce poverty Led by King’s College London, study will recruit 360 people in England and Wales to explore benefits of scheme

Excellent piece on the work of Greater Change, an innovative charity for the homeless (I'm a trustee)
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

Union Street in Plymouth has seen a lot better days but, if you're passing, the engravings on the Millfields Trust Genesis building are wonderful

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

Labour needs to help the UK car industry to an EV transition, not crash it by speeding www.ft.com/content/ce35...

Teesside should not risk its clean energy future by fighting The net zero transition gives the region’s port a historic chance to grow if territorial tensions ease

I took a boat trip on the River Tees and this is what I found about local politics and national regeneration www.ft.com/content/2306...

The End of Denial How Trump’s rising popularity in New York (and everywhere else) exposed the Democratic Party’s break with reality.

What's the Matter with New York? This is a brilliantly reported piece on what the Democrats didn't want to see nymag.com/intelligence...

I suppose what he meant, being charitable, is that it’s harder for GM, having sold its European operations. As to Ford …

Fair point!

*Looks out of window at a Vauxhall*

YouTube video by Donald J Trump Howard Lutnick Explains How President Trump Will Use Tariffs to Protect the American Worker

Howard Lutnick’s claim that Ford or GM cannot sell cars in Europe is a bit strange youtu.be/hnjo7H7xipc?...

Astonish cut-price soaps clean up in supermarkets A family manufacturer in Bradford has been propelled by the growth of discount retailers

I visited Astonish, a Yorkshire success that says a lot about the rise of discount retailers such as Home Bargains and B&M www.ft.com/content/1dc7...

Rolls-Royce is on a smoother flight path at last The UK aircraft engine manufacturer is starting to live up to its distinguished name

My first UK business column, on the surprising recovery of Rolls-Royce www.ft.com/content/b8d5...

read and learn

Professional news: I'm now (as of today) the FT's Chief UK Business Columnist. I'll be writing a couple of columns a week on everything from big business to start-ups, entrepreneurship and government policy. It should be a very interesting time: plenty to cover!

‘I was collateral damage’ – an interview with Evgeny Lebedev For nearly two decades, the enigmatic Russian-born media baron charmed the British establishment. The pandemic, Ukraine war and change in government now find him in social Siberia

My chat with Evgeny Lebedev at Stud House for HTSI magazine www.ft.com/content/c287...

Related is "TV house" ie a swanky big kitchen and huge home in family dramas that you think: how did these characters afford it?

At the Henry Moore house and gardens