A former Treasury official is leading the race to become the next chairman of Lloyd’s of London, one of the City’s most prestigious posts.

Sky News has learnt that Sir Charles Roxburgh is the frontrunner to replace Bruce Carnegie-Brown in the role.

City sources said a process in which other candidates were being considered was ongoing, with a conclusion expected to be reached next month.

However, one said that Sir Charles had emerged as the likeliest of the shortlisted contenders to land the position with the world’s most prominent insurance market.

Whoever replaces Mr Carnegie-Brown will take over with Lloyd’s in a robust financial position.

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Last week, it reported strong half-year profits of £4.9bn, with gross written premiums reaching £30.6bn.

John Neal, Lloyd’s chief executive, said it had benefited from favourable market conditions and below average major losses.

That was despite big payouts relating to the fatal Baltimore bridge collapse in March and the Crowdstrike global IT outage in the summer.

The recruitment process is being overseen by members of the Lloyd’s governing council, who include Lord Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary and national security adviser.

A spokeswoman for Lloyd’s declined to comment on Monday.

The iconic Belfast company that built the Titanic is to collapse into administration.

Harland & Wolff has announced it is insolvent and will appoint administrators.

An administration order will likely be made this week, it added.

Job losses

Between 50 and 60 jobs are to be lost immediately, the company said, most of them based in London.

Some staff will be moved to other sites. Staff employed by each of Harland & Wolff’s four yards are not affected.

Core operations at the locations will remain unaffected.

Call for government action

“Workers, their families and whole communities now face their lives being thrown into chaos due to chronic failures in industrial strategy and corporate mismanagement,” the GMB union said.

It called on the government to intervene and protect the four shipbuilding yards as it said all are needed “for our future sovereign capabilities” in sectors like renewables and shipbuilding.

“The government must now act to ensure no private company is allowed to cherry pick what parts are retained, in terms of which yards or contracts they wish to save.”

The announcement follows a full review of all group holdings which began in July.

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Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power, is closing in on a £2bn swoop for the consumer operations of Playtech, the gambling technology group.

Sky News has learnt that Flutter, which recently shifted its primary stock market listing to New York, could strike a formal agreement with Playtech as soon as Monday.

City sources said the deal would be worth about £2bn, or Euros2.3bn – equivalent to roughly the entire market capitalisation of Playtech.

One insider cautioned that an announcement could be delayed until later this week.

Shares in Playtech rose sharply on Monday morning when it disclosed that it had reached agreement with Caliente, a Mexican company, after a long-running dispute over substantial payments to the London-listed company.

The sale of Snaitech, which ranks among Italy’s biggest gambling companies, will leave Playtech as a business-to-business provider of software, and – according to analysts – is likely to result in a formal takeover bid in the medium term.

Talks with Flutter were revealed by Sky News last month.

On Monday morning, shares in Playtech were trading at more than 705p, giving it a market value of just over “2bn.

Snaitech, which trades under the brand Snai, saw revenues grow by 5% to €946.6m in the last financial year, and maintained its market-leading position across Italian sports betting brands.

Run by Mor Weiser, Playtech has had a strong recent run of results because of US expansion in its B2B operations and the stellar performance of Snaitech.

Playtech has been at the centre of a succession of takeover and other corporate dramas in recent years.

In 2022, Playtech shareholders rejected a takeover bid from Aristocrat Entertainment, an Australian peer.

The following year, it was reported to have approached struggling London-listed 888 – now called Evoke – about a combination, but that too fell through.

For Flutter, a deal would mark the latest stage in a relentless corporate overhaul overseen by Peter Jackson, its chief executive.

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It has been building its international empire through acquisitions, with Snaitech the latest substantial deal to be targeted by Mr Jackson.

Flutter has already acquired Sisal, another big Italian group, although it was unclear whether it would be formally combined with Snaitech.

Both Flutter and Playtech declined to comment.