House byline

Helen Crowe

Business correspondent

Helen Crowe is a house byline for InfoHandle’s Business desk.

27 stories

Glass-fronted office tower in London’s docklands financial district at overcast dawn, commuters crossing a plaza below, no logos or readable text on buildings

Vodafone Rises as Vega Family Vehicle Crosses 9% Holding Before e& Stake Close

Vega’s TR-1 filings show Xavier Niel’s vehicle above 9% of Vodafone voting rights while the £4.4 billion e& block trade awaits regulatory sign-off.

Helen Crowe Oct 8, 2026United Kingdom

Shoppers pass a Boots pharmacy storefront on a busy British high street as staff change window displays

Business

Boots Agrees £6.7 Billion Sale to Canada's Weston Family as Sycamore Partners Exits

Wittington Investments will buy Boots from Sycamore Partners in an $8.9 billion deal covering UK and Ireland stores, opticians and No7 Beauty, with completion expected in early 2027.

Helen Crowe Oct 7, 2026United Kingdom

Glass-walled meeting room at HM Treasury in Westminster, officials seated around a long table with notebooks and water carafes, overcast daylight through windows, no logos or readable text

Business

Healey Tells Bank Chiefs Fiscal Outlook Is Challenging as Surcharge Talk Swirls

Chancellor John Healey told chief executives the fiscal picture remains difficult after a Tuesday City roundtable, as analysts debate whether lifting the bank surcharge or easing Basel buffers would raise more cash.

Helen Crowe Oct 7, 2026United Kingdom

Exterior of a UK supermarket with green and orange fascia on a grey high street, shoppers with trolleys near the entrance, overcast morning light, no logos or readable text

Business

Sainsbury's Explored Morrisons Tie-Up Before Ending Discussions in February

Sainsbury's held preliminary merger talks with Morrisons between November and February before walking away, reviving CMA scrutiny fears in a market squeezed by Aldi and Lidl.

Helen Crowe Oct 6, 2026United Kingdom

North Sea oil platform helideck and pipeline risers under grey North Sea skies, orange survival craft and steel walkways, North Sea chop visible, no company logos or readable text

Politics

Unite Apache Strike Ballot Raises Risk to Forties Pipeline as UK Diesel Tops Two Pounds

Unite says roughly 160 Apache North Sea workers have voted to strike over pay, warning that action at Forties and Beryl fields could choke the pipeline that carries nearly a third of Britain's oil.

Helen Crowe Oct 5, 2026United Kingdom

BT Tower in London at dusk with low cloud, street-level commuters blurred in foreground, documentary wire-photo framing

Business

Nandy Issues Public Interest Intervention Notice on BT TalkTalk Administration Rescue

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy invoked Enterprise Act powers as BT agreed to buy TalkTalk out of administration, putting telecoms continuity and competition review on a dual track.

Helen Crowe Oct 5, 2026United Kingdom

Exterior of a British Gas service van parked outside a terraced house on an overcast London street, company livery blurred and unreadable, wet pavement, no logos or readable text

Business

JPMorgan Adds Centrica to Focus List Arguing Earnings Downgrades Were Overdone

JPMorgan put British Gas owner Centrica on its Analyst Focus List after arguing the market punished the shares too hard for this year's profit warnings.

Helen Crowe Oct 5, 2026United Kingdom

Chancellor's courtyard at 11 Downing Street on an overcast morning, black railings and stone steps, a few civil servants with document folders, no logos or readable text

Business

Healey Convenes NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds CEOs at No. 11 to Head Off Pre-Budget City Exodus

Chancellor John Healey has called the heads of NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds to a Tuesday summit at No. 11 as cabinet colleagues push back on talk of a fresh bank levy before the 28 October Budget.

Helen Crowe Oct 4, 2026United Kingdom

Grey morning outside a terraced street in northern England with condensation on bay windows and a smart meter display glowing in a kitchen, overcast light, no logos or readable text

Business

Energy UK Urges Ministers to Act Before January Bill Shock Lands on Households

Energy UK says January gas forecasts and Middle East supply risk mean ministers must decide on targeted bill help before arrears harden into a longer crisis.

Helen Crowe Oct 3, 2026United Kingdom

Motorist refuelling a white van at a British motorway service station forecourt, diesel price board showing figures above two pounds per litre in late afternoon light.

Business

RAC Records First Two-Pound Average for UK Diesel as Iran War Squeezes Supply

Motoring group RAC said the average UK diesel pump price crossed £2 per litre on Friday as Middle East shipping disruptions collided with a G7 pledge to release strategic reserves.

Helen Crowe Oct 2, 2026United Kingdom

Exterior of a Tesco superstore on an overcast morning in England, shoppers with trolleys near the entrance, wet asphalt and yellow signage blurred, handheld documentary framing, no logos or readable text

Business

Tesco Raises Full-Year Operating Profit Guidance After First-Half Beat

Britain's largest grocer lifted its adjusted operating profit band to £2.9 billion–£3.1 billion after a warmer first half and tighter food inflation than rivals feared.

Helen Crowe Oct 2, 2026United Kingdom

Business

National Living Wage Rises to £12.71 an Hour From October Pay Runs as HMRC Updates Payroll Tables

Employers processing October payrolls must apply the new National Living Wage rate of £12.71 an hour from the first pay period starting on or after 1 October, as HMRC publishes updated tables for software providers and small-business advisers.

Helen Crowe Oct 1, 2026United Kingdom

Interior of a British convenience shop parcel counter with printed Royal Mail branding on the wall, fluorescent lighting, worn laminate counter, parcels stacked on shelves, no people in frame, no logos or readable text

Business

PayPoint Shareholders Back Royal Mail's £43.9 Million Collect+ Stake as Shop Branding Rolls Out

PayPoint investors approved Royal Mail’s 49% Collect+ stake and a 50p special dividend as Royal Mail Shop branding reaches thousands of convenience sites.

Helen Crowe Sep 30, 2026United Kingdom

Grey naval ship hull sections under yard cranes at a Portsmouth dockyard on an overcast morning, welders in high-vis at a distance, wet concrete and rusted steel, no logos or readable text

Business

Healey Awards Six Billion Pounds of Naval Contracts to Clyde and Portsmouth Yards

Chancellor John Healey used Labour’s Liverpool conference to lock in £6 billion of warship work and a £300 million Rolls-Royce factory package, even as he warned fiscal headroom has shrunk ahead of the 28 October budget.

Helen Crowe Sep 29, 2026United Kingdom

Exterior of a neoclassical central bank building on an overcast London morning, stone columns and bronze doors, commuters with umbrellas on wet pavement, no readable signage or logos

Business

Ramsden Set to Detail APF Runoff Plan as Bank Pauses Active Gilt Sales for Six Months

Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden is due to explain the Bank of England's multi-year quantitative tightening plan at 11 a.m. as active gilt sales pause and markets parse how £46 billion of annual runoff will be split.

Helen Crowe Sep 28, 2026United Kingdom

Row of brick terraced houses with a wooden for-sale sign on a damp pavement under overcast light, muted colours and slight grain, no logos or readable text

Business

Your First Home Lets Buyers Put Down 2.5% as Burnham Repackages Help to Buy Funding

Andy Burnham pitched a Your First Home scheme with deposits as low as 2.5% on the eve of Labour's Liverpool conference, but John Healey will not publish full rules until the 28 October Budget.

Helen Crowe Sep 27, 2026United Kingdom

Photoreal exterior of a modern English football stadium at dusk, empty blue seats and a closed executive entrance, security barriers in foreground, overcast Manchester sky, no logos or readable text

Business

Premier League Panel Finds Manchester City Guilty on 114 of 115 Financial Charges

An independent panel found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 financial charges, leaving penalties — points deduction, relegation and title stripping — to decide the club's next quarter.

Helen Crowe Sep 26, 2026United Kingdom

Photoreal scene: a British high street shopper in a raincoat standing outside a department store window on an overcast September morning, a bank card and a small savings jar visible in her open handbag, staff inside folding sale signs, no logos or readable text.

Business

GfK Consumer Confidence Rises to Minus 13 as Savings Intentions Jump Five Points

GfK's September barometer improved to minus 13, but a five-point jump in savings intentions and a fall in the Major Purchase Index point to a cautious Golden Quarter.

Helen Crowe Sep 26, 2026United Kingdom

A dim London financial trading room before dawn, several monitor banks showing unsigned rising line charts and blurred numeric tables, a paper budget folder and unmarked documents on a desk, empty ergonomic chairs, cool monitor glow against grey window light, documentary wire photo, slight underexposure, no identifiable faces, no logos or readable text

Business

Gilt Yields Erode Burnham–Healey Budget Headroom as August Debt Interest Hits Record

Ten-year gilt yields near post-2008 highs and a record £8.8bn August debt-interest bill have cut the Chancellor's Budget headroom to roughly £14bn against £24bn forecast in March, with tax rises the likeliest offset when John Healey delivers his first Budget on 28 October.

Helen Crowe Sep 25, 2026United Kingdom

London office lobby with workers passing a wall-mounted services-sector chart screen, grey overcast daylight through glass doors, worn carpet tiles, no logos or readable text

Business

UK Services PMI Slips to 51.7 as Cost Pressures Outpace Domestic Demand

Flash S&P Global/CIPS data put UK services at 51.7 in September, missing the 52.0 consensus as domestic demand softened and input costs climbed on fuel—one week after the Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% with a hawkish inflation warning.

Helen Crowe Sep 24, 2026United Kingdom

Widebody jet engine on stands inside an industrial maintenance hangar with fluorescent lighting, tooling carts and yellow safety lines on concrete floor, no logos or readable text.

Business

Rolls-Royce Lifts Civil Aerospace Shop-Visit Guidance After Long-Haul Engine Hours Rebound

Rolls-Royce raised its 2026 large-engine shop-visit forecast after long-haul flying hours ran ahead of plan, betting Derby and Singapore MRO lines can absorb more Trent work without repeating last winter’s spare-engine crunch.

Helen Crowe Sep 23, 2026United Kingdom

Terraced house hallway in northern England with an open gas meter cupboard and prepayment keypad, worn carpet and afternoon light through frosted glass, no logos or readable text

Business

British Gas Holds Variable Rates Through October Ofgem Review Window

British Gas told brokers it will leave standard variable tariffs unchanged through the October Ofgem price-cap consultation, keeping roughly 2.4 million households on hold while Centrica waits for the regulator’s winter allowance figures.

Helen Crowe Sep 22, 2026United Kingdom

Low waterline on a stone-lined upland reservoir in Cumbria under grey September cloud, exposed shoreline and moor grass, maintenance walkway in foreground, no logos or readable text

Business

United Utilities Triggers Cumbria Reservoir Drawdown After September Rain Deficit

United Utilities has stepped up controlled drawdown at Haweswater and Thirlmere after a dry September left Cumbria’s strategic stocks below the five-year average, even as Pennine zones stay on enhanced monitoring.

Helen Crowe Sep 21, 2026United Kingdom

Two leaders at a polished conference table with union flags and cherry blossom arrangements, grey London daylight through tall windows, officials and leather folders blurred in the background, no readable logos or nameplates

Business

Starmer and Takaichi Seal £18 Billion UK-Japan Investment Framework in London

Keir Starmer and Sanae Takaichi signed an £18 billion UK–Japan investment framework in London, pairing more than £9 billion of Japanese corporate spend on British infrastructure and financial services with up to £9 billion for offshore wind and renewed GCAP and nuclear engineering ties.

Helen Crowe Sep 20, 2026United Kingdom

Industrial bakery line with metal trays of pastries under fluorescent lights, workers in hairnets at a distance, scuffed tile floor, overcast daylight through high windows, no logos or readable text

Business

Greggs Extends Bakery Shift Bidding After September Sales Beat Street Estimates

Greggs will keep voluntary shift-bidding windows open at its regional bakeries through October after like-for-like sales in the first five weeks of September ran ahead of broker consensus, the Newcastle chain told the London Stock Exchange on Friday.

Helen Crowe Sep 20, 2026United Kingdom

Stacked colour shipping containers beside a grey import warehouse under overcast Suffolk coastal light, forklift and scuffed asphalt foreground, no logos or readable text

Business

B&M Stores Reroutes Container Sourcing After Felixstowe Backlog Clears

B&M is shifting more inbound containers to its Ellesmere Port imports centre after Felixstowe dwell times eased, freeing capacity at its legacy Suffolk discharge point for seasonal general merchandise.

Helen Crowe Sep 19, 2026United Kingdom

A terraced house front room in England with a wall-mounted smart meter display and a cast-iron radiator under a sash window, grey daylight through net curtains, worn carpet and scuffed skirting boards, no logos or readable text

Business

British Gas Holds Variable Rates Steady as Ofgem Reviews January Cap

British Gas has left standard variable unit rates unchanged for a second review cycle while Ofgem prepares the next quarterly cap, keeping millions of UK households on a tariff that still tracks the regulator’s January ceiling.

Helen Crowe Sep 18, 2026United Kingdom