Businesses’ payroll bill to soar by £300m as London living wage increases October 23, 2023 Payroll costs in the capital are set to soar by over £300m as the London living wage increases by a tenth. Businesses signed up to the voluntary scheme will see their salary expenditure go up by £304,200,000 after the rate jumps from £11.95 an hour to £13.15 for 130,000 employees. Firms accredited include half the [...]
Rachel Reeves to claim ‘party of business crown’ with Labour conference speech October 8, 2023 Labour are gunning for the ‘party of business’ crown as Rachel Reeves prepares to unveil a string of policies on planning, building and investment in a bid to woo the private sector. Speaking at Labour conference in Liverpool, the shadow Chancellor will pledge to speed up the race to get critical infrastructure built, drive growth, [...]
The City sees the Tories as a ‘bigger risk to business’, says Reynolds October 8, 2023 The Conservative Party is seen by many people in the City “as the bigger risk to the business community”, Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds told City A.M.
Normal service resumed? CBI boss tells corporate Britain she’s turned the page on scandal October 2, 2023 Rain Newton-Smith is well respected in the City but scandals and questions over its long-term utility have left the CBI in a pinch
Post Office scandal: £600,000 compensation offer ‘gun to head’ for victims, MP claims September 19, 2023 An MP has criticised the offer of £600,000 compensation for every Post Office worker who has had their wrongful Horizon conviction overturned, claiming it is “a gun to their head”. The government announced on Monday that every post office operator who was caught up in the Horizon IT scandal and wrongfully convicted will receive £600,000 [...]
Government won’t create single insolvency regulator in its industry overhaul September 12, 2023 Insolvencies will not be regulated by a single body, after the government dropped plans to create a solo watchdog for the sector. Ministers had proposed setting up a single regulator of insolvency practitioners to run within the insolvency service – but have since reversed on the idea. The move comes as high street retailer Wilko [...]
FSB calls for a ‘risk-taking’ attitude from government to boost small businesses August 31, 2023 British business organisations are calling for a tech revolution and pushing the government to supercharge economic growth. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has sounded the clarion call for the government to foster a “risk-taking” attitude and give small enterprises a leg up as they stumble over the high cost of adopting new technologies. The [...]
High street banks pull back from SME lending despite increasing demand August 30, 2023 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are finding it increasingly difficult to access funding from high street banks, new data out today shows. According to data from fintech firm iwoca, 84 per cent of finance brokers said high street banks were increasingly reluctant to lend to SMEs. This was seven percentage points more than the quarter [...]
Labour to water down gig economy pledges in business vote bid: reports August 18, 2023 Labour have watered down protections for workers’ rights in a bid to woo big business, it has been reported Sir Keir Starmer has rolled back his plans to create a single category of ‘worker’ for all but those genuinely self-employed, which was intended to secure “rights and protections” for all. But at the party’s national [...]
Small business confidence slumps amid rising rates and stubborn inflation July 26, 2023 Confidence among small businesses slumped in the second quarter as the impact of rising rates and a stalling economy hit SMEs. The Federation of Small Business’s (FSB) Small Business Index fell to minus 14.2 points in the second quarter, down 11.4 points in the first quarter of the year. The fall in confidence reflects the [...]