Next CEO backs Lords battle against National Insurance tax rise January 29, 2025 The chief executive of retail giant Next has backed an attempt in the House of Lords to change the planned change to employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Lord Wolfson has supported amendments to the bill which have been tabled by Baroness Noakes. In Labour’s Budget last Autumn, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the government would [...]
Apple eyes MLS sell-off as even Messi can’t save £2bn deal January 29, 2025 Apple TV is considering selling off some of its international rights to Major League Soccer (MLS) just two years into a 10-year deal. The streaming company is paying $250m (£200m) a year for global MLS rights in a bet that interest in the American domestic league would grow significantly on the back of Lionel Messi’s [...]
Grow, baby, grow… but will Labour’s growth agenda be enough? January 29, 2025 City AM’s politics reporter, Jessica Frank-Keyes, unpacks the week in Westminster. Today, she tackles Labour’s growing promises. Picture a graph with the x axis stretching from 1800 to the present day. The data is represented as a fairly flat line along the bottom, up to about 1960. Then it bumps around at about a quarter [...]
Cornwall hopes for tin mining revival as metals firm lands £56m injection January 29, 2025 After the belts whirred to a halt and workers left Cornwall’s last operating tin mine for a final time in March 1998, a question was painted on its outer wall: “Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too. But when the fish and tin are gone, what are the Cornish boys to do?” [...]
Rachel Reeves vows to fight for economic growth January 28, 2025 The Chancellor will declare that “growth won’t come without a fight” as she unveils her plan to turnaround Britain’s ailing economy with billions of pounds of investment and new infrastructure projects. Reeves will pledge an £80bn boom to the economy from a new Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor in a move that comes after the pensions industry [...]
Prime Minister Keir Starmer claims the UK economy is ‘turning around’ January 28, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK economy is “turning around” as the government attempts to turn the page on a bruising first six months in power. “The number one priority of this Labour government is growth: growth, growth, growth,” Starmer said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We have to get our economy working. [...]
CMA chair pledges to speed up decision-making after government backlash January 28, 2025 The new chair of the competition watchdog has pledged to speed up its decision making and bring in outside expertise as part of plans to reshape the agency following months of criticism. Doug Gurr, a former Amazon executive who was parachuted in to lead the body after ministers ousted his predecessor last week, said “lengthy [...]
Glaring contradiction at heart of government growth agenda January 28, 2025 In the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (stay with me) the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading were abolished, and in their place emerged the Competition and Markets Authority. The 2013 Act enshrined the regulator’s remit and responsibilities, with a hefty focus on protecting consumers. On the CMA’s website, they summarise [...]
Pension industry backs Reeves’ £160bn investment drive January 28, 2025 The pensions industry has said it is willing to back the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to unlock up to £160bn in corporate surpluses if retirees are given “appropriate protection” by the government. Reeves and the Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to meet with business leaders in the City of London today to outline pension [...]
Why Chancellor Rachel Reeves opted for the ‘jobs tax’ in the Budget January 28, 2025 The government has frantically been searching for a story to tell on the economy since the turn of the year, after the Budget was so poorly received by both businesses and households.