Autumn Budget: Will the UK keep its tech talent or drive it abroad? November 25, 2025 Time is running out for Rachel Reeves to reassure the sector she has spent months courting. With tax rises looking increasingly likely in Wednesday’s Autumn Budget, the mood across UK tech has shifted to concern, reviving the warning issued earlier this month by some of Britain’s most valuable founders: change course, or risk watching high-growth [...]
‘Tax on risk’ – Founders warn against income tax rise November 4, 2025 A group of young entrepreneurs has issued a fresh warning that a proposed hike to income tax will hit the self-employed hardest, and accelerate a trend of young founders relocating overseas. In a clarion call ahead of next month’s Budget, the Young Entrepreneurs Forum warned that a mooted 2p rise in income tax alongside a [...]
Autumn Budget: Reeves must focus on growth, not ‘gimmicks’ October 16, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman sits down with top industry names for a Budget Briefing. This week, the chief executive of founders club Helm calls for bold innovation policies took take centre stage. Chancellor Rachel Reeves should use her second Autumn Budget to make bolder swings for the UK’s innovation economy [...]
Specsavers: Sales and profit rise as bumper pay day scrapped October 14, 2025 Specsavers has scrapped the bumper dividend it has been handing to its billionaire owners despite its sales and profit growing during its latest financial year. The chain has paid out £15m in each its last two financial years to founders Dame Mary Perkins and her husband Doug. Over that time, Specsavers’ turnover has increased from [...]
The Entertainer: Staff eye tax-free bonuses as founders cede control August 11, 2025 Almost 2,000 employees of the UK’s biggest toy chain, The Entertainer, are set to receive tax-free bonuses after its founders handed them control of his retail empire. Gary Grant has transferred 100 per cent of his ownership in Teal Group Holdings, which he held alongside his wife Catherine, to an employee ownership trust. The move, [...]
Entrepreneurs blast ministers: ‘They don’t get us’ June 25, 2025 Over eight in 10 entrepreneurs say the government does not understand their needs, a survey of founders has said, with over half citing taxes and burdensome red tape as major barriers to their growth aspirations. The poll’s stark findings reveal that just four per cent of business owners believe the Starmer administration has a grasp [...]
The UK isn’t celebrating risk takers and wealth creators – Castore boss April 29, 2025 The UK is at risk of “taking too many steps down a road of not wanting to celebrate risk takers and wealth creators”, according to the co-CEO of sports apparel brand, Castore. Tom Beahon, who shares the top job with his brother Phil, added “there’s not a lot of incentive for anyone to take risks [...]
‘It’s tragic that Britain hasn’t made Greg Jackson a national hero’ March 31, 2025 The billionaire founder of Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson, should be recognised more for his achievements in business and made a national hero, according to marketing veteran Rory Sutherland. The vice chairman of Ogilvy added it’s “tragic” that the UK doesn’t “make more heroes of our really innovative business successes” in the way the USA does. [...]
Could the digitisation of social care pave the way for a better NHS? November 19, 2024 The system, as it stands, is struggling – and the debate over what should or can be done to fix it is still ongoing.
Founders warn of hiring freeze ahead of national insurance hike November 14, 2024 A majority of founders are warning they will have to implement a hiring freeze ahead of the employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) increase set to come into effect this spring. The warning signs follow Rachel Reeves’ announcement in the Budget last month of a 1.2 per cent increase to employers’ NICs, taking the total to [...]