Mixed bag of PMI data as services grow but manufacturing slumps March 24, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has received mixed signals about the state of the UK economy ahead of her Spring Statement as S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) pointed to an upturn in services while manufacturing declined again. The Spring Statement will be delivered on Wednesday as global trade war tensions escalate and worries over incoming tax [...]
What NOT to expect in the Spring Statement March 24, 2025 The Spring Statement shouldn’t be a big thing, but it’s increasingly feeling like it could be. Here's what Reeves should do, but won't.
Chancellor rules out ‘tax and spend’ policies ahead of spring statement March 22, 2025 The Chancellor has ruled out “tax and spend” policies ahead of her spring statement next week. Rachel Reeves is under pressure to increase taxes or cut spending to meet the financial rules she set at the budget in October amid disappointing growth figures and higher-than-expected borrowing. Figures released on Friday came as a further blow, [...]
Inheritance tax receipts reach record high March 21, 2025 Inheritance tax receipts totalled £7.6bn in the last 11 months, a record high and surpassing last year’s full-year total of £7.5bn. Data from HMRC revealed today that the amount paid in tax was an 11.8 per cent increase from the same period last year. “It may only affect a small percentage of estates, but that [...]
Fintech boss outlines industry’s Spring Statement needs March 20, 2025 With the Chancellor’s Spring Statement under a week away, a fintech boss has laid out how the government must support the industry. Laurent Descout, co-founder and chief executive of payments platform NEO, said Rachel Reeves must prioritise support for the fintech sector through two key areas: university funding and helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). [...]
London firms struggling to recruit staff as people want to WFH March 20, 2025 Firms in London are struggling to recruit staff as over four in five businesses have vacancies, according to a new survey of 1,000 companies. Mayor Sadiq Khan recently announced plans to boost economic growth in the capital, but the latest survey by BusinessLDN suggests he may have a mountain to climb before he achieves his [...]
Will Rachel Reeves hike taxes in her first Spring Statement? March 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to make her first Spring Statement next week, and rumours are starting to swirl that the tax hikes could be on the cards as she tries to get the government debt under control. Given the Chancellor’s commitment to just one major fiscal event a year the Spring Statement is intended [...]
Output gains show firms are ‘protecting their margins’, Lloyds growth survey says March 19, 2025 Growth in a number of sectors shows that firms “are taking steps to protect their margins”, according to a survey of 1,300 companies. Rachel Reeves’s £20bn increase to national insurance contributions (NICs), which is set to come into effect in April, has left firms unsettled. But the latest Lloyds UK Sector Tracker has indicated companies [...]
SMEs delay investments as uncertainty leaves firms on edge March 18, 2025 Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are delaying investment decisions, a new survey has found, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement threatens to stifle businesses. Uncertainty brought by an escalating global trade war and Reeves’ proposed reforms is making business leaders think twice about their appetite for investments in the short term. The latest survey of [...]
UK economy facing recession risk as Spring Statement looms March 17, 2025 Britain’s fragile jobs market indicates that a recession is looming for the UK economy, a leading think tank has warned. Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the government’s economic record in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, claiming most major economies around the world are facing lower growth than expected. But the Resolution Foundation said the UK [...]