Young’s: Pub chain in ‘great shape’ after Christmas despite Budget burden January 16, 2025 Young & Co have reported an excellent Christmas trading period, with optimism abound despite a higher cost burden for the hospitality sector this year. The pubs-and-rooms operator, which has around 228 pubs and 5,600 employees, said that revenue in the five weeks to January 13 rose 30.4 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 11.6 per [...]
Most retailers will hike prices in response to Reeves’ NI Budget raid January 15, 2025 Two thirds of CFOs have said their business will be forced to raise prices as a result of higher wage bills, according to a new survey. Around 70 per cent of respondents to the survey, which looked at the attitudes of CFOs at 52 retailers, were “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” about trading conditions over the [...]
Dunelm boss: A rise in the living wage is good for our company November 27, 2024 The boss of Dunelm has said that an above-inflation increase to the minimum wage will have a positive effect on the home furnishings giant, despite a flurry of retailers decrying the increased bill. Dunelm chief executive Nick Wilkinson said that the resulting increase in consumer confidence – due to higher disposable income – will ripple [...]
B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher: Weak trading in France and £45m tax hit cause shares to plummet November 25, 2024 Shares in Kingfisher, the parent company of B&Q and Screwfix, have dropped nearly 13 per cent after it tightened profit guidance due to weak trading in France and a higher tax bill in both France and the UK. Kingfisher expects the impact of changes to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) announced in the UK’s latest [...]
London pubs giant Young’s issues Budget warning after £11m costs hike November 14, 2024 Pub giant Young’s, which has locations across London and the South East, has insisted it has no plans to increase the price of drinks despite the Budget adding around £11m in annual costs. The listed group said it was instead focusing on increasing efficiency, better use of technology and internal investment in order to deal [...]
Founders warn of hiring freeze ahead of national insurance hike November 14, 2024 A majority of founders are warning they will have to implement a hiring freeze ahead of the employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) increase set to come into effect this spring. The warning signs follow Rachel Reeves’ announcement in the Budget last month of a 1.2 per cent increase to employers’ NICs, taking the total to [...]
Collapse in SME employment growth serves as ‘wake up’ call to government November 12, 2024 Employment growth within Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) fell drastically last month in the run-up to the Autumn Budget’s tax hike on employers. The rolling six-month average for annual employment growth in full-time jobs dropped to 2.6 per cent at the end October, down from 12.8 per cent in October of last year, [...]
Autumn Budget: Which taxes will Rachel Reeves hike? October 22, 2024 With the Autumn Budget set to be delivered in just a few days, speculation about which taxes Chancellor Rachel Reeves will opt to raise has reached fever pitch. On entering No 11 Downing Street, Reeves commissioned the Treasury to conduct a thorough spending audit, which she claimed unearthed a “fiscal black hole” of £22bn, paving [...]