Claridge’s swings to £10m loss as luxury hotel warns on ‘adverse impact’ of tax hikes Hospitality Claridge’s has suffered a loss of just under £10m as the iconic London business warned government tax hikes were taking their toll. The five-star Mayfair hotel, which opened its doors in 1898 before expanding via a five storey ‘mega basement’ in 2021, recorded a loss after tax of £9.7m for 2025, reversing a £2m profit [...]
John Caudwell: I backed Labour, but they haven’t kept their promises Opinion We should be making it easier for entrepreneurs to invest, employ and expand. Instead we are giving them more reasons to look elsewhere.
Retailers urge Healey to unwind national insurance hike to boost jobs Retail Retailers have called on Chancellor John Healey to unwind some of the national insurance reforms made by his predecessor in a bid to tackle the youth joblessness crisis. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, has written to the Chancellor, urging him to unwind “soaring employment costs”. [...]
Budget 2026: Which taxes will Burnham and Healey hike? August 25, 2026 With interest rates on course to remain elevated and a new government keen to win over sceptical voters with cost-of-living measures, economists think tax rises at October’s Budget are all but guaranteed. But where will the new Chancellor look for revenue? Ali Lyon and Mauricio Alencar examine the most likely revenue raisers. Speak to any [...]
The UK’s cost stack is choking business growth August 18, 2026 Much of the UK has faced a summer of sweltering temperatures as the country hasbounced from one unrelenting heatwave to another. Businesses know all too well that unrelenting feeling. A decade of constant cost pressures from domestic policy decisions has been hugely damaging. It’s a cost stack is chocking business growth. Before a pound of [...]
Heathrow boss warns Burnham against Budget raid after hub’s tax bill doubles July 24, 2026 The boss of Heathrow has warned Andy Burnham against using business as a cash cow at his maiden Budget this autumn, after the airport’s tax bill more than doubled in the space of a year. Thomas Woldbye said the aviation sector is one of the most heavily taxed industries in Britain, and that uptick in [...]
Will Burnham take the pressure off business? Don’t bank on it July 23, 2026 Andy Burnham’s big ambitions come with a big price tag. Our analysis shows a £22bn black hole of unfunded commitments, including the costs of honouring decisions announced in the dying days of Keir Starmer’s government, such as NHS pay rises and the Defence Investment Plan. If you add in the new PM’s other great ideas, [...]
If Burnham wants firms to hire young people, he needs to get out of their way July 8, 2026 Firms don’t need subsidies to incentivise them to hire NEETs, we just need to make sure that work pays, says Mani Basharzad Andy Burnham’s honeymoon seems to be getting shorter by the day. Even before reaching Nunber 10, he is refusing to hold a proper press conference. But when he enters office, he will face [...]
Thin end of the wedge? LLPs brace for major tax overhaul July 2, 2026 The maths genius behind trading firm XTX, Alex Gerko, stands high in the rankings of Britain’s top taxpayers, having paid more than £330m to HMRC last year. For good measure, he also handed out more than £150m to charities and good causes in 2025, focusing on education and supporting talented math graduates to pursue PhDs [...]
Tax the robots to fix our jobs crisis June 24, 2026 Starmer leaves parliament with a jobs crisis in his wake. I urge his successor to tax tech rather than humans, writes James Reed.