Footfall drops in sign of pre-Budget nerves October 10, 2025 Footfall at UK retailers dropped in September, in a sign consumers are tightening their belts in the face of sticky shop inflation and a looming Budget where taxes are set to be raised by billions of pounds. Total UK footfall fell by 1.8 per cent year-on-year, according to British Retail Consortium data, extending a run [...]
Business confidence ‘plumbs new depths’ ahead of Budget October 1, 2025 Business confidence fell to a fresh record low in September, as fears of another cost squeeze stoked an already dire operating environment that was found to have “worsened across the board”. According to an Institute of Directors (IoD) poll, private sector optimism plunged to the lowest level since the industry body started collecting data a [...]
New green tax labelled ‘own goal’ ahead of Budget September 30, 2025 A new green tax coming into effect this week has been labeled an “own goal” for the Labour government and stoked fears it could lead to prices soaring. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) levy is designed to increase increasing recycling rates among local authorities, by passing on the costs onto the companies selling the products. [...]
Rachel Reeves was overshadowed by her future self September 30, 2025 The Chancellor’s speech yesterday was overshadowed by one she hasn’t yet delivered; that’ll be the Budget, on 26 November. The whole country knows that the November Budget is going to be painful, one way or another, and its inevitable constraints (in fact, just the timing of it) meant that Reeves wasn’t able to say much [...]
We need more retail investors to get Britain growing, Rachel Reeves told September 29, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told to introduce measures in the Autumn Budget which will encourage more people in the UK to become retail investors. Speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM‘s Boardroom Uncovered show, ClearScore CEO Justin Basini said that more people needed to be persuaded to start investing as a key way [...]
Labour say manifesto stands ‘today’ as Reeves ducks VAT hike September 29, 2025 The Chancellor would not rule out fresh rises to VAT ahead of her speech to Labour Party Conference later today, when pressed on the issue by LBC’s Nick Ferrari this morning. Asked whether Brits could face increases to the retail levy, Reeves said: “You’ll know we made those commitments in our manifesto, and those commitments [...]
Barclays, Citi, JP Morgan bosses sound alarm on bank tax September 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves has been handed a warning by top banking chiefs to prioritise stability for the financial services industry amid speculation of looming tax hikes. The bosses of UK banking giants have cautioned the Chancellor on potential tax rises and stressed the sector must remain competitive. Barclays’ boss CS Venkatakrishnan – known as the Venkat [...]
Rachel Reeves ‘has no interest in hospitality’ after ‘reckless’ taxes September 23, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves “has no interest in hospitality”, according to nighttime adviser Sacha Lord, who also branded her National Insurance increases in last year’s Autumn Budget “both reckless and short sighted”. Lord, who is a member of the Labour Party, said the 2024 Budget was a “disaster for hospitality” which resulted “in many closures and [...]
Businesses face ‘unprecedented’ political risk ahead of Budget September 23, 2025 UK business leaders are battling an “unprecedented scale” of simmering global tensions which are set to impact profitability, according to a new survey. Concerns have spiked from the beginning of the year, a fresh survey from Beazley has concluded, with 85 per cent of UK business leaders saying political risk is affecting their profitability. This [...]
Autumn tax hikes would lead to inflation over five per cent ‘well into next year’ September 23, 2025 Food inflation will rise and remain above five per cent well into 2026 if the retail industry is hit by further tax rises at the Autumn Budget, a leading lobby group has warned. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that the government risks ‘losing the battle’ against inflation if business rates on large shops rise [...]