Reeves’ £25bn tax grab to become ‘toxic reality’ for British business, firms suggest April 4, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £25bn tax grab from employers will become a “toxic reality” for British businesses from Sunday as higher costs risk stunting firms’ income, one of the UK’s largest industry bodies has warned. Reeves’ has pinned her hopes for improving the state of public finances on growing the UK economy but more firms have [...]
UK manufacturing woes deepen as industry ‘hit on several fronts’ April 1, 2025 The latest S&P Global’s UK Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) shows that UK manufacturing’s woes have deepened. S&P Global’s latest PMI survey, which asks around 600 industrial companies about their performances, suggests that manufacturing is again in the downturn following a poor start to the year. The latest figure showed that it decreased to 44.9, which [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes will cost me £1m – Hooch tycoon March 31, 2025 The founder of the alcoholic drinks empire behind the likes of Hooch and VK has warned the tax hikes announced by Rachel Reeves will cost him an extra £1m. Steve Perez, the boss of Derbyshire-headquartered Global Brands, added that the Chancellor has “stacked the odds” against businesses like his and that he has “no choice” [...]
Retail sales beat expectations as Brits keep shopping March 28, 2025 Retail sales volumes beat expectations in February as British shoppers seemed to loosen their spending habits, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail sales rose one per cent month-on-month after rising 1.4 per cent in January. Markets had expected a decline of 0.3 per cent. Annual retail sales growth came in at 2.2 [...]
Andrew Bailey: Strong trade and AI will be key to UK growth March 24, 2025 Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, has said that strong trade will be essential to UK growth in the coming years. The Bank of England last week held interest rates at 4.5 per cent, citing a possible global trade war as a risk to the economy. In a speech delivered at the [...]
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre empire braced for Reeves’ tax hike March 18, 2025 Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre empire has warned it is bracing for the “notable impact” the hike in employer’s National Insurance contributions (NICs) when it comes into force next month. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her Budget in October 2024 that NICs would rise by 1.2 per cent from April to 15 per cent in [...]
Reeves told to scrap ‘jobs tax’ after headline figures questioned March 12, 2025 A fresh row has erupted just weeks before Rachel Reeves‘ national insurance tax hike comes into effect after the Treasury’s headline figures were scrutinized. When announcing her 1.2 per cent hike to employers’ national insurance contributions (NIC) at the Autumn Budget, Reeves said it would raise “£25bn per year by the end of the forecast period.” [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Rachel Reeves should be courageous and favour economics over ideology, says Interactive Investor boss March 3, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to be “quite courageous” and not “allow ideology to get in the way of economics” when she delivers her Spring Statement on 26 March, the chief executive of Interactive Investor has said. Richard Wilson, speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM‘s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, added that the government’s growth agenda [...]
Checkatrade CEO: ‘My plan to get Britain growing again’ February 20, 2025 The chief executive of Checkatrade has revealed what he would like the government to change in order to boost British businesses and get the country growing again. Speaking during an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered interview series, Jambu Palaniappan argued Labour should reform the rules around planning permission to made it easier for [...]
Retail start-up loans rise as entrepreneurs defy UK high street gloom February 5, 2025 Start-up loans for retail businesses rose by a fifth last December, with entrepreneurs still determined despite the gloom surrounding the sector, according to new figures. In December 2023, 32 loans were provided to retail business owners. In December 2024, this rose to 39, an increase of 22 per cent, according to The British Business Bank. [...]