Young’s has agreed to acquire Cubitt House London Pubs, adding eight iconic leasehold pubs across some of the capital’s most sought-after neighbourhoods.

The deal brings in well-known venues including The Thomas Cubitt and The Orange in Belgravia, The Grazing Goat in Marylebone, and The Princess Royal in Notting Hill. A ninth Belgravia site currently under development is also part of the package, giving Young’s a pipeline asset from day one.

The acquisition fits squarely with Young’s strategy of growing its London footprint through premium, well-located sites. These sites are about as prime as it gets for UK pubs.

Young’s said it had been watching the Cubitt House business for some time and was keen to retain the teams and culture that built its reputation.

Simon Dodd, CEO said: “We are delighted to be adding this collection of iconic pubs and pubs with rooms to the Young’s estate. Located in some of London’s most affluent neighbourhoods, these premium sites align perfectly with our strategy to selectively expand our business.”

Young’s is funding the deal from existing bank facilities, with completion expected on 22 April.

The FTSE 100 carved out gains on Tuesday as investors awaited a deadline set by Trump for Iran to strike a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The US President said that if Iran did not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 20.00 EST on Tuesday, the US would target civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power facilities.

London’s leading index initially fell on Tuesday but rebounded as the session progressed. The FTSE 100 was trading up 0.3% at 10,467 at the time of writing.

Trump’s deadline follows an expletive-laden social media post over the weekend aimed at Iran, threatening to destroy bridges and power plants. Although experts have warned that such a move could constitute war crimes, the US and Israel seem unperturbed, raising concerns about what the response from Iran would mean for the global energy markets.

“Markets were steady with investors largely non-committal as they await the apparent cliff-edge deadline imposed by the Trump administration,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 

“President Trump’s threats of widespread strikes on Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by the early hours of tomorrow morning UK time, if taken at face value, create the conditions for a binary set of outcomes.”

If Trump follows through – and that’s a big if – the Strait is unlikely to be reopened, and Iran may well target additional energy facilities in the region. This will only serve to prolong and deepen the energy crisis. 

Oil prices have displayed a great degree of caution over the past week as equity markets rebounded and again showed signs of tension on Tuesday, with Brent Crude holding firm within touching distance of $110 per barrel.

BP and Shell crept higher on Tuesday as investors continued to align equity portfolios with higher oil prices. But larger gains were observed in the FTSE 100’s consumer-facing stocks, such as Games Workshop and JD Sports.

Games Workshop was the FTSE 100’s top gainer on Tuesday, adding 3.5%.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust was also among the best performers, as it continued to benefit from an adjustment to its net asset value following the announcement of an IPO by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

SpaceX is reportedly planning for an IPO this year, and Scottish Mortgage is one of the very few ways UK investors can gain early exposure to the space travel firm. Around 20% of the Scottish Mortgage portfolio is allocated to SpaceX.

Babcock was the FTSE 100’s top faller, losing around 2%.

Stocks are likely to remain choppy for the rest of the session as Trump’s deadline approaches. It wouldn’t be surprising to see gains quickly turn to losses, or, indeed, stocks extend gains, should the US President fire up his social media apps as the US market comes online.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Futures are pointing to a softer open this afternoon, and we expect pressure to build on stocks as the day progresses if we move closer to Trump’s deadline without any sign of a deal or even a temporary ceasefire.”

BSF Enterprise shares jumped on Tuesday after it unveiled what it calls the world’s first handbag made from lab-grown T-Rex Leather, now on display at the Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam until 10 May.

The piece, designed by techwear label Enfin Levé, is a proof of concept for the company’s subsidiary, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd, which used AI-driven modelling to reconstruct collagen sequences from fossilised T. rex DNA before cultivating the material through its proprietary tissue-engineering platform.

The display at the Art Zoo Museum will be followed by the implementation of a commercial strategy that will make the technology available to fashion brands and other applications.

BSF is targeting three markets: luxury fashion, where it plans to make T-Rex Leather available to premium brands and designers; automotive interiors, where it sees long-term demand for high-performance, slaughter-free materials; and the broader bio-based materials space.

The company is positioning its wider Elemental Leather™ range to target what it describes as a combined $80bn addressable market across luxury leather and biomaterials.

Following the Amsterdam exhibition, the one-off handbag will be auctioned through a major international auction house later this year, with details still to be confirmed.

Dr Che Connon, CEO of BSF, said: “The evening last Thursday we revealed an object that represents the pinnacle of artisanal luxury yet its origin story belongs in a deep-tech biotechnology seminar. At LGL we are not merely trying to engineer a greener alternative to cow hide but are looking to fundamentally redefine the material basis of luxury itself. It’s not an Alternative but a new generation of Material. It’s not a compromise, its a technological upgrade. Our new T-Rex Leather brand is shifting the narrative from Natural heritage to Biotech Exclusivity”

BSF Enterprise shares were 62% higher at the time of writing on Tuesday.

Hunting has won $63.5m of orders for its titanium stress joint product line, tied to a new offshore development in Guyana.

The work will be carried out by the group’s Subsea Spring business unit, with delivery running through to May 2028 and revenue recognition beginning in the second half of 2026.

The deal will provide a notable boost to revenue, which came in at just above $1bn in 2025.

This award sits on top of $4.4m of orders already secured by Hunting’s Stafford and Flexible Engineered Solutions units for the same development since December 2025, with further incremental orders expected through the remainder of this year.

The contracts highlight growing traction for Hunting’s TSJ technology, which is used on FPSO vessels and is a core part of the company’s strategy to capture a larger share of spending on major subsea projects.

Today’s deal demonstrates the group’s push to offer a broader suite of solutions across the full life cycle of offshore wells, positioning itself as a more integrated supplier to the major oil and gas companies and their service partners.

Jim Johnson, Chief Executive or Hunting, said: “Our TSJ product line, which is a critical component for offshore developments, continues to be adopted on key offshore projects utilising FPSOs, given the maintenance benefits and reliability offered.

“We would like to thank our partner in Guyana for its continued confidence in our product offering and look forward to working together in the future with our range of products and solutions.

“This order also contributes to our guided subsea product group revenue and EBITDA through to 2028, as published at our subsea investor event held in January 2026.”

Beeks Financial Cloud has secured a five-year Proximity Cloud contract worth £2.1m with a large foreign exchange broker, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

The deal sees an existing Private Cloud customer, which Beeks has served since September 2025, upgrade to Beeks’ higher-spec Proximity Cloud offering, providing a dedicated, client-owned trading environment across multiple locations.

Revenue recognition is expected to begin in the current financial year.

Gordon McArthur, CEO of Beeks, said: “This latest win highlights both the strength of our offering and the significant expansion potential across our growing customer base of major financial institutions. We continue to see strong momentum across the business and remain focused on converting our considerable and growing pipeline.”

Beek recently announced annualised committed monthly recurring revenue of £32.80m, up 15% over the past year as the company shifts its focus to recurring revenues.