Kwarteng stung: Mini budget chancellor offered to set up meeting between fake firm and Boris Johnson for ‘£10k’ March 27, 2023 Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng offered to facilitate setting up a meeting between a fake foreign firm and former prime minister Boris Johnson during a sting interview. Mr Kwarteng was caught up in a hoax organised by campaign group Led By Donkeys in which he was approached about providing political advice to a bogus company it [...]
Airports and power stations to be hit hardest by business rates changes March 27, 2023 Airports, power stations and business headquarters are set to be hit hardest by property tax changes when new valuations come into force next week, according to research. Revenues from business rates – the property tax on commercial buildings – are expected to rise by £1.4 billion, or 4.9 per cent , to £29.9 billion when [...]
Skills shortage doubled since pre-Brexit and pandemic as four in five firms struggle to fill roles March 27, 2023 Four in five businesses are struggling to fill vacancies because of a lack of skilled workers – the highest number in 17 years, new research suggests. Employment group Manpower said the number of employers reporting skills shortages has increased six-fold over the last decade – and more than doubled since pre-Brexit and the pandemic. A [...]
No light at end of the tunnel: HS2 delay leading to higher costs as London Euston link nearing £5bn March 27, 2023 Delays linking up HS2 and Euston will mean extra costs and potentially even higher spending, the National Audit Office has warned ministers. A near 50-page report, looking specifically at the Euston element of the much delayed high-speed line, concluded that a “reset” in 2020 had “not succeeded”. It comes after Transport Secretary was criticised earlier [...]
Firms face £300m paperwork bill in proposal to help save cash through business rates March 27, 2023 Businesses across England could be saddled with bills for around £150 a year under new Government proposals intended to help them with their tax. A requirement for businesses to update the Government annually could cost a total of around £300 million a year, analysis by Gerald Eve, a real-estate advisory company, has found. The estimate [...]
Four day week? Sure – but you better be in on a Monday, say bosses March 27, 2023 EMPLOYERS are more open to the idea of a shorter working week than many think – but you can forget about working from home if you want Friday off. That’s the conclusion of a survey of more than 10,000 employees and bosses released today by Hays, the recruitment firm. A third of employers are more [...]
ULEZ row: Khan reassures 90 per cent are unaffected by expansion, as 700K face new charge and ‘massive financial impact’ March 24, 2023 Nearly 700,000 car drivers in London will face a daily £12.50 ultra low emission zone (Ulez) fee when the scheme expands, according to new analysis. The RAC, which carried out the research, said the expansion of the zone from August 29 will have a “massive financial impact on motorists and businesses”. It comes a day [...]
Michael Gove: Four more firms signed up to Grenfell safety contracts after being named and shamed March 24, 2023 Michael Gove said four more companies have signed up to post-Grenfell building safety contracts after he named and shamed some of the firms earlier this month that had not signed up to the agreement. The Communities Secretary had given companies until March 13 to sign up to the agreement aimed at addressing cladding issues following [...]
Brexit deal DONE: Sunak’s Windsor Framework signed off as UK and EU look for better relationship March 24, 2023 Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal for Northern Ireland has been formally signed off at a meeting in London, as both the UK and the EU hope for better relations. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the European Commission’s Maros Sefcovic chaired a meeting on Friday to adopt the new arrangements for Northern Ireland, after the Government won [...]
‘If all prices try to beat inflation we WILL get higher inflation’: Bailey pleads with firms to be considerate to low earners March 24, 2023 The Governor of the Bank of England has pleaded with companies to remember that inflation will drop sharply later this year when they are setting prices or risk hurting those on the lowest incomes. Andrew Bailey said that if companies set prices that help embed inflation in the economy it will not benefit anybody and [...]
