Asda needs to ‘dig down into its soul’ and recover sense of purpose, say analysts December 9, 2024 Asda needs to “dig down into its soul” and reshape its pitch to customers if it wants to tackle the rising threat from the likes of Aldi and Lidl following a rollercoaster 2024, analysts have warned. The Leeds-headquartered supermarket giant has not been far from the headlines all year amid debt struggles, strikes, falling sales [...]
Lamborghini Urus SE 2025 review: The super SUV goes hybrid November 23, 2024 The ground quakes and the air seems to crack as 30 unsilenced V10 engines explode into life. There’s a moment of tension, then the lights change, the track becomes a blur of clashing colours and the sound builds to a furious crescendo as the cars race towards the first corner. The Lamborghini World Finals are [...]
Mark Kleinman: Handbags (and more) at dawn for activist Ashley November 21, 2024 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and is the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week he tackles Mike Ashley’s newfound penchant for activist investing, Homebase’s turnaround and and Burberry’s flip-flopping Handbags (and more) at dawn for activist Ashley Paul Singer, Bill Ackman…and Mike Ashley? On the list [...]
Homebase sold in rescue deal to CDS but 2,000 jobs still at risk November 13, 2024 Homebase has been sold in a rescue deal to retailer CDS in a move securing up to 1,600 jobs and 70 stores, administrator Teneo has said, but around 2,000 workers and 49 shops still remain at risk.
Badenoch claims Reeves’s Budget was designed to ‘milk private sector’ November 13, 2024 The Labour government’s “ideological” Budget was “designed to milk the private sector”, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed. Quizzing Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today, the Conservative leader accused the Labour leader of “having nothing to offer but platitudes”. She said: “Their ideological Budget was designed to milk the private sector and [...]
Employer National Insurance hike a ‘significant burden’ and will impact working people, warns Thwaites November 12, 2024 The hike in employer National Insurance contribution (NICs), which was revealed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Budget, will place a “significant burden” on historic brewer, pub and hotel owner, Daniel Thwaites, the company has said. The Lancashire-headquartered group added that the increase, together with the rise in the National Living Wage, “make it less [...]
Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor November 11, 2024 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 [...]
Businesses warn of £400m in extra costs after Reeves’s Budget tax raid November 8, 2024 Businesses across the UK are sounding the alarm over rising costs after Rachel Reeves raised taxes by some £40bn at the Budget last week. The Chancellor announced that employer’s national insurance contributions (NIC) will increase by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent, and the threshold at which businesses start paying the levy will be [...]
Sainsbury’s: FTSE 100 retailer warns Reeves’ budget may push up food prices November 7, 2024 Chief executive of Sainsbury’s Simon Roberts has warned that Reeves’ decision to increase employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent next April could lead to price inflation. Sainsbury’s has estimated the cost of the change at £140m, according to the Guardian. “This industry operates on very low margins, and there just [...]
Labour’s ‘growth’ agenda already looks like a bad joke November 7, 2024 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 [...]