Shepherd Neame: Pub prices to rise as Budget costs hit March 19, 2025 UK hospitality chain Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer, has said it will increase prices at its pubs to deal with cost pressures from the government’s tax raid on businesses. The national living wage and employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) will both increase from April, as announced in last October’s budget. The increase in labour costs [...]
Softcat beats analyst expectations as profit jumps March 19, 2025 UK tech infrastructure firm Softcat beat analyst expectations last year as profit growth accelerated into the double digits over the last six months of the year. Gross profit at the firm increased by 12.1 per cent to £220.2m, above analyst expectations of £218.3m, Softcat revealed in its half-year report. Meanwhile, operating profit climbed 10.4 per [...]
Bentley profit falls on weak China demand March 19, 2025 Bentley Motors has reported a drop in profit and revenue as its boss flagged weaker demand in China. The luxury carmaker, which is owned by Volkswagen, posted an annual operating profit of €373m (£314m) and revenue of €2.6bn (2.2bn). While the profit haul marked the sixth highest in Bentley’s history, it was down more than [...]
M&G slumps to loss as outflows accelerate March 19, 2025 M&G has reported a jump in outflows for 2024. The insurer and asset manager reported outflows of £9.5bn throughout 2024, compared to £4.7bn in 2023, it revealed in its annual results. Outflows were recorded from every arm of the firm. Its traditional Life business was hit hardest, with outflows of £4.8bn during the year. Meanwhile, [...]
Labour MPs warned ‘perfect storm’ of retail costs could benefit Reform UK March 19, 2025 Labour MPs are being warned a “perfect storm” of costs facing the retail sector could see seats lost to Reform UK. New analysis from the Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA) has revealed Labour holds 24 of the UK’s 30 constituencies with the highest numbers of voters working in retail, according to an Electoral Calculus survey in [...]
Welfare reforms: What are the politics of Labour’s benefits changes? March 19, 2025 Over the past few weeks, it’s been hard to avoid reports of the government preparing the ground for a string of changes to the UK’s welfare system. Call it kite flying, pitch rolling, or testing the waters, when work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall got to her feet in the House of Commons on Tuesday, [...]
Growing aviation does not conflict with protecting the environment, says transport secretary March 19, 2025 Growing the UK’s aviation sector is not a trade-off against protecting the environment, the Transport Secretary has said. Speaking at the annual dinner of the trade association AirportsUK, Heidi Alexander said she will “never accept the false trade-off” that pits the two issues against each other. The UK government has placed airport expansion at the [...]
Exclusive: Channel 4 Ventures backs cocktail machine maker Bartesian March 19, 2025 City AM can reveal that Channel 4 Ventures has partnered with Bartesian as the drinks firm looks to accelerate its expansion in the UK. Bartesian, which produces cocktail-making machines, will benefit from the broadcaster’s advertising reach, and Channel 4 Ventures will receive an equity stake in the business in exchange. “This investment enables us to [...]
UK investors up home bias in exodus from US stocks March 18, 2025 British investors continued upping their ‘home bias’ for UK stocks over the last year while withdrawing from US equities, reacting to fears of a global trade war and faltering US economy. Average UK allocation increased from 19 per cent to 21 per cent over the past year, whilst US holdings fell from 45 per cent [...]
UK government investment boosts growth more than private sector, study finds March 18, 2025 UK government investment is extremely efficient at boosting growth in the economy, despite results varying wildly across the globe, a new study has claimed. Every additional pound the government invests in the UK economy turns into £9.30 of additional output after 20 years, according to research from the University of Lisbon. This return, which averages [...]
