Thursday newspaper round-up: The Original Factory Shop, water bills, CityFibre

29th Jan 2026 07:14

(Sharecast News) - The Original Factory Shop homeware chain has called in administrators, putting 1,200 jobs at risk, putting the decision partly down to higher costs from government policies. Administrators from Interpath have been appointed at the 137-store discount retailer, which was bought by the private equity firm Modella Capital less than a year ago. - Guardian

Water bills in England and Wales will rise by an average of £33 per household in April, in the latest above-inflation increase intended to fix leaking pipes and sewage treatment works. The increase will push the average annual water bill to £639 in the year from 1 April, up 5.4% on the previous year, according to figures published on Thursday by Water UK, a lobby group for the industry. - Guardian

CityFibre is to cut hundreds of jobs as the debt-laden broadband firm braces for a wave of consolidation across the industry. The British telecoms group, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala fund, on Wednesday outlined plans to slash 450 roles, almost a third of its 1,400-strong workforce. The company said the redundancies will predominantly affect engineers as it shifts focus from building a full-fibre network to buying up struggling rivals. - Telegraph

Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of exaggerating his affordable homes push by falsely claiming to have started thousands of new developments. New figures from data group Molior suggests the Mayor of London has been counting early-stage developments - such as buildings slated for demolition as well as blueprints for new homes - towards his total of affordable homes under construction. - Telegraph

Partners at KPMG have surpassed their rivals at PwC to become the second-best paid among the Big Four accountancy firms. Distributable profits per partner averaged £880,000 in the 12 months to September 30, 2025, an 11 per cent increase from the previous year. It puts KPMG's average partner pay higher than that of EY at £787,000 and PwC at £865,000, but it remains below Deloitte's average of over £1 million. - The Times