Sunday trading, VAT-free shopping? Healey has plenty of low-hanging fruit this Budget Opinion Sunday trading, tax exemptions for NEETs: there's an abundance of low-hanging fruit for Healey to back businesses this Budget.
Exclusive: Mayors can use tourist tax to ramp up borrowing, Burnham tells business Hospitality Andy Burnham has looked to justify his new uncapped “tourist tax” to business chiefs by claiming it will allow mayors to ramp up borrowing, City AM understands. In various meetings at Labour’s Business Day, top business groups were told by ministers the so-called overnight stay levy will let mayors take on more debt and use [...]
Burnham urged to boost West End with tax cuts and extra policing Retail The West End risks losing its status as one of the world’s best shopping and hospitality destinations without immediate action to cut tax and boost policing, Andy Burnham has been warned. The New West End Company (NWEC), which represents 800 businesses involved in the world-famous district, has urged the government to slash business rates and [...]
A tourist tax will be bad for all business, not just hotels September 21, 2026 Increasing the cost of hotel rooms and Airbnbs is not just a blow to the hospitality sector, it will hammer all businesses, argues James Ford.
Britain needs tax devolution, but beware of fiscal war September 17, 2026 Britain is an outlier for tax centralisation, but devolution can go badly wrong, says Tim Sarson Last week government front benchers and local leaders from across England got together at Number 10 North to discuss the details of a new Visitor Levy, or tourism tax. Quite a momentous moment in its own way, because this [...]
London is expensive enough for tourists September 15, 2026 An overnight levy on top of the removal of VAT-free shopping is making London too expensive for tourists, writes Ros Morgan.
Wetherspoon boss: ‘Not up to Burnham’ to choose who is on the high street September 11, 2026 Britain’s pubs have few more committed defenders than Sir Tim Martin. The Norwich-born businessman founded JD Wetherspoon in 1979 when he bought his first pub in Muswell Hill, initially named Martin’s Free House. Since rebranding the pub to Wetherspoon – named after a former teacher of Martin’s who could not control his class – it [...]
Hospitality sector blasts Burnham’s uncapped tourist tax September 10, 2026 The hospitality sector has blasted proposals from Andy Burnham’s government to introduce a fresh tax on tourists. The industry has been left reeling after the government confirmed a new overnight levy on tourists that will have no upper cap. Regional authorities are set to be handed the power to introduce a levy to support regional [...]
Holiday Inn owner IHG urges Burnham to drop tourist tax September 3, 2026 The UK boss of Holiday Inn-owner IHG has urged Andy Burnham to drop plans for a tourist tax, which they said will deter tourists and investors from the country’s hospitality sector. Neetu Mistry, the hotel group’s UK and Ireland managing director, told City AM that she has directly warned the government against the policy, which [...]
The Highland tourist tax: Is Scotland pricing out whisky tourists? August 25, 2026 The latest available data from the Scottish Tourism Economic Activity Monitor in Scotland (STEAM) shows that between 2012 and 2024, visitor numbers to the Highlands increased 82 per cent to 9.4m. Spending increased by a similar amount, to £2.1bn. A large share of that is directly linked to the Scotch whisky sector. You’d think, therefore, [...]