Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor Economics The government is under increasing pressure to revisit its hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage after a number of the UK’s largest employers voiced concerns about the impact of the changes on their costs and operations. Over 200 of the UK’s biggest hospitality businesses signed a letter to the Chancellor yesterday [...]
Festive advertising set to reach record high this Christmas Retail Corporate spending on advertising is set to reach a record high this Christmas as brands look to cash in on consumers’ appetite for festive storytelling. Companies are set to spend a record £10.5bn in the UK on advertising over the Christmas season, according to industry trade body the Advertising Association and data provider WARC. Many [...]
Labour’s ‘growth’ agenda already looks like a bad joke Business Well, that didn’t take long to unravel: the first Labour Budget for nearly 15 years, and the first ever by a female chancellor, saw the parallels with Kwasi Kwarteng’s infamous 2022 mini-Budget emerging within hours. The comparison was misguided, although the jittery reaction of financial investors and rise in government funding costs told its own [...]
M&S set to buck retail trend and see a bumper golden quarter November 6, 2024 After reporting a set of results far ahead of analysts’ expectations for the third quarter, Marks and Spencer is set for a bumper Christmas period as its turnaround continues to bear fruit. Its food division is particularly well-placed to deliver, with sales already up more than seven per cent in the third quarter. M&S’ food [...]
Marks and Spencer shares up on double-digit growth as turnaround pays off November 6, 2024 Marks and Spencer has reported another bumper set of results ahead of the golden quarter as its turnaround plan continues to pay off. The company’s share price rose by nearly five per cent in early trades and reached a level not seen since 2016. Profit before tax rose 17.2 per cent to £407.8m, up £348.1m [...]
Beckett’s stellar season can end with Valvano high November 5, 2024 SATURDAY also sees the curtain fall on the British Flat turf season with the November Handicap (3.45pm) at Doncaster. The mile-and-a-half finale at Doncaster is always a hot betting heat, and this year is no different, with bookmakers currently offering 7/1 the field. VALVANO immediately catches my eye at the top of the market and [...]
M&S to report £6.6bn in sales amid turnaround in fortunes November 3, 2024 Such a performance would put further weight behind comments from boss Stuart Machin in May, hailing the "beginnings of a new M and S."
Reeves planning national insurance on employer pension contributions, as workers spared October 23, 2024 The move would raise £15.4bn, which would go a long way to filling the £40bn which Reeves hopes to raise through a combination of tax rises and spending cuts.
The Capitalist: Guildhall’s gossip police on patrol as M&S boss skips Investment Summit October 17, 2024 Dispatches from Labour's Investment Summit, M&S's CEO's big night out and hijinks at Cheltenham: catch up on City gossip in The Capitalist.
Quin AI: Start-up secures £1.5m to ‘revolutionise’ data privacy September 26, 2024 Quin AI has secured £1.5m in seed funding as it looks to shift its unique focus on customer personalisation into new industries.