Reeves’ taxes ‘incredibly damaging’ to historic family business September 16, 2025 The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget are “a real setback” and will be “incredibly damaging”, one of the UK’s biggest family-owned breweries has warned. Robinsons Brewery, which has been in business in Stockport for more than 180 years, has issued a warning that 2025 will be “a much more [...]
Hiking minimum wage as graduate pay stagnates is incentivising mediocrity August 27, 2025 Hiking the minimum wage as graduate salaries flatline is creating a system where ambition is no longer rewarded, writes Steve Rigby.
Butlin’s boss: We’re not going to tax ourselves to success August 26, 2025 The chief executive of holiday park chain Butlin’s has hit out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves after saying increases taxes on businesses is not the way to improve the UK economy. Speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM‘s Boardroom Uncovered show, Jon Hendry Pickup said the country is “not going to tax ourselves to success” [...]
Services lead ‘fragile and uneven’ business activity rebound August 21, 2025 Business activity in the UK’s private sector enjoyed its strongest rebound in a year this month, but economists have cautioned the growth remains “fragile and uneven.” S&P’s Global flash UK composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reached 53.0 in August, up from 51.5 in July and marking the highest score in 12 months. Any score above [...]
One in five hospitality firms have no cash reserves after tax raid August 20, 2025 A fifth of British hospitality businesses have no cash reserves left and nearly eight in 10 have raised prices as they battle to shoulder the succession of cost hikes placed on them at last year’s autumn Budget. Fresh data from four of the sector’s trade bodies showed that 69 per cent of members have less [...]
Rachel Reeves told to ‘get out of the way’ ahead of Autumn Budget August 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told to “let businesses get on with it and get out of the way” ahead of delivering her second Autumn Budget in the coming months. A group of 1,500 private business leaders surveyed by KPMG said the Chancellor should focus on promoting higher wages and lower costs for companies. They [...]
Iceland in the red as Rachel Reeves’ tax raid forces prices higher August 8, 2025 Iceland has warned it is being forced to increases prices because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax raids as the supermarket chain fell into the red. The Flintshire-headquartered said that while it is “doing our utmost” to offset increasing costs arising from last year’s Autumn Budget, it will “inevitably have to pass some of these on [...]
We are governed by people who don’t know what they’re doing August 6, 2025 Almost 100,000 jobs in the hospitality sector have disappeared since the government unveiled its hike to employers’ National Insurance Contributions, and lowered the threshold at which it is paid. Employers have also had to contend with a rise in the minimum wage amid a storm of other headwinds including inflation, energy costs and generally weak [...]
Business confidence hit by tax fears as Rachel Reeves’ headroom crumbles July 2, 2025 British business confidence has been hammered by Labour’s tax blows but fears remain heightened the government will return for more. A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) revealed 56 per cent of firms were particularly concerned about their tax burden, which comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer failed to rule out further [...]
Superdrug shrugs off Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes to create over 600 jobs July 2, 2025 Superdrug has created more than 600 jobs despite tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves putting “pressure” on its margins. The high street chain upped its headcount from 13,845 to 14,479 in 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. The increase comes after Superdrug also created more than 400 jobs in 2023. The [...]