Exclusive: Industry chiefs warn Reeves not to hit business after income tax U-turn Business The Chancellor must not rely on businesses to plug the gaping fiscal gap left by Thursday’s income tax U-turn, a group of industry body chiefs has warned a year after UK firms were forced to stomach much of the £40bn of tax hikes at Labour’s maiden Budget. In an unusual combined intervention, bosses from five [...]
‘Unprecedented’ number of small businesses expect to shrink or close down Economics A record number of small businesses are expecting to shrink or close down in the next year, a leading industry group has warned, amid a “vicious” cycle of low growth and fears that next month’s Budget could cause more pain for businesses. Nearly one in three of the UK’s small businesses (30 per cent) expect [...]
Labour warned Employment Rights Bill will damage jobs market Economics Labour’s Employment Rights Bill must be changed immediately to prevent the UK’s jobs market crisis from worsening, top business groups have warned Peter Kyle in a last-ditch attempt to secure growth-focused changes. The government’s workers’ rights reforms have faced strong opposition from thousands of businesses across the UK, with bodies representing their interests claiming changes [...]
Nigel Farage: Labour government will collapse in 2027 September 5, 2025 Nigel Farage has set his sights on a General Election in 2027 due to the collapse of the Labour government as he geared up electoral planning at Reform’s party conference. Moving his speech forward three hours to deliver his response to Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister, Farage said the government was “deep in [...]
Businesses are Reform-curious on eve of Birmingham conference September 4, 2025 Nigel Farage’s poll-topping party has attracted more businesses than ever to its annual conference this week. But, writes Ali Lyon, some corporations and industry bodies are still steering clear of the party, citing its unpredictability and the conference’s unorthodox format. With his party boasting a consistent poll lead, and a general election just weeks away, [...]
Exclusive: Industry chiefs urge MPs to accept workers’ rights amendments July 26, 2025 Seven of Britain’s most influential industry bodies have urged MPs to accept an array of House of Lords amendments to the government’s workers’ rights package, warning the overhaul is already having a “chilling” impact on jobs and the economy. The cohort of heavyweight lobby groups – which includes all the so-called ‘Big Five’ business bodies [...]
For first time ever, more small firms expect to shrink than grow July 14, 2025 More small business owners expect their firm will shrink, shut or be bought over next year than predict a year of growth – for the first time in at least 15 years. According to a poll by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 27 per cent of bosses believe their company will downsize, be sold [...]
Personal guarantees ‘overuse’ holding UK growth back July 7, 2025 The “overuse” of personal guarantees in borrowing arrangements is holding businesses back and stifling UK growth, innovators have warned, with only a small minority of companies claiming they would borrow from banks with their personal savings or assets on the line. A new survey of some 1,400 small business owners by the Federation of Small [...]
Business groups pour cold water on pay transparency plans June 18, 2025 Plans to make business tell workers what their colleagues earn have sparked a flurry of warnings from industry chiefs that they will hinder bosses’ flexibility to pay staff fairly, and may not work for smaller employers. Ministers are currently looking at ways to end pay discrimination, with options including making companies publish remuneration structures and [...]
Mark Kleinman: Reeves’ City IPO push still lacks momentum May 22, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column Reeves’ City IPO push still lacks momentum It’s the City’s most oft-recurring question: how do you reverse the alarming decline in London’s attractiveness as a destination for IPOs? The bald statistics legitimise the urgency of the [...]