Budget 2025: What exactly is happening with business rates? November 26, 2025 Long-awaited changes to business rates were finally announced in the Budget, with a lower rate for small companies to be paid for by a higher levy for large firms. Retailers have been railing against for business rates for years, with concerns that the tax creates an unfair playing field between high street and online firms, which [...]
Budget: Reeves introduces ‘permanently lower’ taxes for retail and hospitality November 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed she will introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure firms, paid for by higher levies on big properties. Retailers have been crying out for business rates reform for years, with concerns that the tax creates an unfair playing field between high street and online firms, which only owe [...]
Business chiefs: Employment will be hit by minimum wage hike November 25, 2025 Business chiefs have criticised Rachel Reeves’ decision to hike the national living wage by more than 4 per cent for most British workers at the Budget. In a final announcement before unveiling the full set of fiscal measures, the Chancellor said she would back the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations to raise the minimum wage to [...]
Retail confidence falls at its fastest rate since 2008 November 25, 2025 Confidence amongst retailers has dropped at its fastest rate in 17 years as firms become increasingly pessimistic about their fortunes amid high taxes and low spending. Retailers expect demand to remain subdued heading into December, with sales set to fall again – albeit at a somewhat slower pace, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly Distributive [...]
Alibaba.com: How AI is reshaping B2B sales and entrepreneurship November 25, 2025 For Alibaba.com, the true transformative power of AI won’t be for customers; it will be for business-to-business sales. Multimodal search, such as AI search using multiple data points, is driving a “paradigm shift” in global e-commerce, says Alibaba.com president Kuo Zhang at CoCreate Europe. “We’re completely redesigning what search is… for this year alone, our multimodal [...]
Budget: Sugar tax to be extended to milkshake and lattes November 25, 2025 Pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes are set to be included in the government’s new ‘sugar tax’ as it attempts to tackle obesity in the UK. The labour government is set to end the exemption for milk-based drinks from the tax on sugary drinks, although the move would not include drinks made in cafes and restaurants. Chancellor [...]
Westfield issues retail taxes warning ahead of Budget November 25, 2025 Shopping centre giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has warned that higher taxes for the retail industry in tomorrow’s Autumn Budget would lead to inflation and low investment. Reeves’ second Budget is widely expected to reveal a range of tax hikes after a bruising year for productivity and GDP growth. Crucially for retail, the Chancellor is expected to unveil [...]
Asda billionaire quits role at Vinted rival November 25, 2025 Billionaire Mohsin Issa, who co-owns supermarket giant Asda, has stepped down as a director of a second-hand fashion startup he backed. The businessman is a major investor in online platform Loopi alongside Victoria Price through Boulder Investco – a fund which supports startups in the UK. Launched in the UK in January, Loopi was co-founded [...]
Next hikes dividend after NIMBY backlash sparks Essex land sale November 25, 2025 Retail giant Next has offloaded a highly contested piece of land in Essex after a group of NIMBYs blocked its plans to build a distribution centre. The firm completed the sale on November 21, bringing to a close its intention to develop the Waltham Abbey site and generating £54m in cash. Next has said it [...]
Reeves delays Shein import clampdown to 2029 November 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves will wait four years before scrapping a controversial tax break that benefits low-cost foreign retailers such as Shein and Temu, hitting British high street chains who had pushed for immediate action in next week’s Budget. The chancellor has confirmed she will abolish the UK’s ‘de minimis’ rule, which exempts parcels worth under £135 [...]