Healey to ‘increase minimum wage by 3.9 per cent’ Politics Chancellor John Healey will reportedly hike the minimum wage by nearly four per cent at the Budget, setting the floor for wages for all over 21-year-olds at £13.20 for the next year. Healey is expected to deliver a huge pay increase of 3.9 per cent to low-wage workers on Wednesday, according to The Times. However, [...]
Why a ‘do no harm’ Budget isn’t good enough Economics Labour market statistics can be pretty dry. Inactivity rates, nominal regular earnings growth, payroll numbers and claimant counts tend not, at first glance, to fire up the imagination. The data dumps are hoovered up by economists and analysts, not least as a guide to future Bank of England interest rate decisions or as a barometer [...]
James Watt: Andy Burnham blames everyone but himself for the NEETs crisis Opinion Telling young people they’ve been let down by ‘the system’ is a narrative of despair that removes all agency from young people. If Andy Burnham really wants to help NEETs he should get out of employers’ way, says James Watt Andy Burnham’s recent comments about the growing number of young people not in education, employment [...]
Burnham eyes youth minimum wage rethink as jobs crisis bites September 13, 2026 Andy Burnham’s government is considering slowing planned minimum wage rises for young workers amid concerns that higher employment costs are making businesses more reluctant to hire them. Downing Street and the Treasury are examining whether the rapid increase in wages for under-21s has contributed to Britain’s youth jobs crisis, Bloomberg first reported, as ministers prepare [...]
Gareth Southgate hits out at WFH and warns high taxes are harming youth unemployment September 9, 2026 Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has said he is against working from home and argued that young people need workplace mentors to develop their careers. On a trip with the Neets tsar Alan Milburn, Southgate hit out at companies’ working from home policies and linked it to the joblessness crisis facing under 25-year-olds. “What [...]
‘King of Mayfair’ Richard Caring hits out at ‘lacklustre’ economy September 7, 2026 Richard Caring, dubbed the ‘King of Mayfair’, has blamed the UK’s “lacklustre” economy for falling sales at his luxury restaurant group. The hospitality tycoon’s Caprice Holdings reported a four per cent dip in revenue to £90.5m in the year to January, which it blamed on rising employment costs and US tariffs. Caring’s hospitality group includes [...]
Tesco, B&Q and Whitbread scolded in minimum wage crackdown September 3, 2026 Labour’s new workers’ rights police force has scolded Tesco, B&Q and Whitbread, and more than 600 other firms, for failing to pay the minimum wage. The Fair Work Agency has published the names of 658 companies which have been fined £7m and forced to return £4m to more than 27,000 workers who have not been [...]
Bingo giant takes hit from rising employment costs September 1, 2026 The country’s biggest bingo hall operator has hit out at the “significant” hikes to employment costs which dragged down its earnings despite surging Gen-Z interest in the pastime. Buzz Bingo, formerly Gala, blamed recent increases in employer national insurance contributions (NICs) and the minimum wage for its six per cent dip in underlying earnings, to [...]
Matalan kicks off turnaround under new boss as retailer slashes jobs June 17, 2026 Matalan’s new boss has kicked off the fast fashion retailer’s wide-range turnaround which has revamped dozens of stores but caused the loss of more than 600 jobs. Henrik Nordvall, who took the reins as chief executive in November, said he is “encouraged by the progress already underway” as the clothes seller pushes to renew its [...]
Starmer ally defends minimum wage quango after Sunak calls for it to be axed June 9, 2026 Welfare secretary Pat McFadden has leapt to the defence of the minimum wage quango after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for the body to be axed. The top ally of Sir Keir Starmer told City AM it “would be a mistake” to abolish the Low Pay Commission (LPC), an independent body that advises the [...]