City minister opens door to weakening banks ombudsman June 26, 2025 City minister Emma Reynolds has suggested the government could remove powers from the banks ombudsman as part of efforts to ease regulatory burdens faces by financial services. Reynolds told an audience of bankers and investors that the end of a review on the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which acts to settle complaints made by consumers [...]
Reeves urged to unfreeze income tax or risk entrenched damage June 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves has been given another stark warning of the implications of extending the freeze on income tax thresholds. The Chancellor has vowed to not repeat the scale of tax rises in last year’s autumn Budget, but has not addressed whether she will stand by her promise to unfreeze income tax thresholds from 2028. Reeves [...]
Sandwich or Confectionery? M&S strawberry sandwich raises VAT questions June 26, 2025 M&S has jumped on the bandwagon of the viral Japanese strawberry sando by launching its own, but the treat has raised the old familiar question about VAT
Berenberg: Labour welfare row will lead to tax hikes and higher interest rates June 26, 2025 Divisive party politics at the top of the Labour government stand to prevent the Bank of England from making further interest rate cuts, given struggles to curb spending, a leading City broker has warned. The government is embroiled in another row over spending cuts, as £4.8bn in welfare budget savings look set to be watered down following a [...]
Week in Business: Is the jobs market in crisis? June 26, 2025 Entry level and graduate jobs are down while AI is coming for professional roles, all while businesses contend with tax hikes and red tape.
ABF confirms plans to shut bioethanol plant despite last-minute government negotiations June 26, 2025 Associated British Foods has confirmed plans to shut its Yorkshire bioethanol plant despite the government entering formal negotiations to rescue the site, in a blow to Labour’s new industrial strategy. The food producer, which also owns the retail giant Primark, said it had now begun consultation with employees to effect an orderly wind-down, with purchases [...]
A poor country acting like a rich one June 26, 2025 Britain is not a rich country. We may act like we are, we may even sometimes look and sound like we are, but the numbers don’t lie. When looking at GDP per capita we are decidedly middle of the pack by European standards and embarrassingly far behind America. The per head figure in the UK [...]
A tin of baked beans could decide the fate of the LSE June 26, 2025 A lot was riding on Shein’s plans to float in London. Too much, probably. The Asian e-commerce giant’s IPO was set to be the UK’s biggest in years, and was seen as our best bet to revive the market. But plans changed, and Hong Kong now looks the likely home. Is that such a loss [...]
Living standards warning: ‘the decade looks bleak’ June 26, 2025 British families will not see their income grow in the next five years while pensioners will be £1,500 better off, economic researchers have projected in a “bleak” analysis that cast a shadow over government plans to boost households’ budgets. Chancellor Reeves claimed at this year’s Spring Statement that Britons would be £500 better off each [...]
Private equity circles the legal market, but not all firms are viable for investment boost June 26, 2025 It is no surprise that law firms have become a new target of interest for private equity firms as the legal sector is a big moneymaker