Retail sales rise unexpectedly despite Budget tax fears October 18, 2024 Retail sales came in ahead of expectations.
Landlords urge Reeves to offer Budget tax breaks amid ‘market uncertainty’ October 17, 2024 Private landlords groups have written to Rachel Reeves to urge the government to offer tax breaks amid “market uncertainty” ahead of the Budget. In a letter to the Chancellor prior to the 30 October fiscal statement, representative bodies including the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) said their members face “uncertainty on a number of fronts” [...]
Ministers to speed up energy ‘skills passport’ amid worker shortages October 17, 2024 The energy secretary will speed up oil and gas workers being able to transition to jobs in the renewable energy industry via a “skills passport” as workforce shortages are “hindering” the sector. Energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband confirmed his department will “provide project management advice” to Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and Renewable [...]
Let’s be honest… feel-good campaigns are ruining Britain October 17, 2024 Every government promises to cut red tape but ends up adding more. The only way to break the cycle is to stop listening to nice sounding arguments, says Matthew Lesh Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt did not mince words at this week’s International Investment Summit. “Maybe you need a minister of anti-regulation?” Schmidt said to Prime [...]
Tory leadership: I’ll return us to ‘party of sound money’, Robert Jenrick pledges October 16, 2024 Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has pledged to return the Conservatives to “being the party of sound money”, if elected. The former migration minister outlined his economic plans in a speech this morning in which he admitted the Conservatives “abandoned fiscal responsibility in the mini-Budget.” Jenrick told an audience of journalists and MPs at a [...]
Employer National Insurance hike could risk jobs amid 95,0000 vacancies October 15, 2024 Increasing employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) could pose a risk to jobs amid some 95,000 vacancies across pubs and restaurants, a hospitality lobby group has warned. Data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed there are a “stubbornly high” 95,000 openings across the sector, including in venues, cafes and eateries. Hospitality UK [...]
Entrepreneurs ‘can’t be in doubt’ about our growth pledge, Reynolds argues October 15, 2024 Entrepreneurs who signed an open letter warning about the impact of hiking capital gains tax “can’t be in any doubt” about Labour’s commitment to economic growth, Jonathan Reynolds told City AM. The business and trade secretary was responding to a letter signed by a group of 500 British entrepreneurs, including the founders of Signal AI, [...]
Ministers refuse to rule out hike to employer national insurance rate October 14, 2024 The Chancellor and business secretary have again refused to rule out a hike employers’ National Insurance (NI) contributions in the upcoming Budget when speaking on the sidelines of the government’s investment summit today. Speaking exclusively to City AM on the question of whether Labour would increase employers’ NI, Jonathan Reynolds stressed: “I think the manifesto [...]
Reeves hails £63bn boost for Britain at flagship investment summit October 14, 2024 Reeves welcomed the investment news, insisting her “ambition for Britain burns brighter than ever”, while the government said the deals will see some 38,000 new jobs created in the UK.
Government hails £6.3bn ‘vote of confidence’ in UK data centres October 14, 2024 Keir Starmer’s government hailed billions of pounds of investment into UK data centres as a “vote of confidence in Britain” today, as ministers announced scores of deals during the flagship International Investment Summit. US firms Cyrusone, Cloud HQ, Coreweave and Servicenow revealed plans to inject a combined £6.3bn in funding into the UK’s data centre [...]