Labour U-turns on inheritance tax raid after year of farmer protests December 23, 2025 The Labour government will raise the inheritance tax relief threshold for farms in another dramatic U-turn following a year of backlash from rural communities. On Tuesday, the Treasury and Department for Food and Rural Affairs said it would increase the Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs threshold to £2.5m from £1m when it is introduced in [...]
Labour believes success is something to be ashamed of December 10, 2025 Two successive Budgets have done unspeakable damage to small and medium sized firms across the country, but the government does not seem keen to reserve the punishment for set piece fiscal events, says John O’Connell After the relentless pre-Budget leaks was the catastrophic event itself. Then came the forensic analysis of who knew what when [...]
Purton could rake in All the Cash in his Sha Tin Paradise December 5, 2025 RACING enthusiasts in Hong Kong have the best of both worlds on a 10-race programme at Sha Tin on Sunday, with five races on turf and five on the all-weather surface. With just a week to go before the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races take centre stage, it is likely that both stables and jockeys [...]
Swift can Ascend higher than rivals with Bentley on board December 5, 2025 FORM students have an intriguing contest to look forward to, when a dozen contenders line-up in the Chatham Handicap (8.40am) over six furlongs on the all-weather surface. Multiple dirt winners, including Group Three Korea Sprint winner Self Improvement, Capital Delight, Sing Dragon and Talents Ambition face off against some talented turf speedsters headed by Invincible [...]
Candy Kittens: ‘We want to be the Unilever of challenger brands’ December 2, 2025 When Ed Williams and Jamie Laing first set up Candy Kittens in 2012, they dreamt of being bought by Unilever. Now – 13 years later – they’ve bought healthy snack brand Graze from the consumer giant for a fraction of what Unilever paid for it in 2019. “Everybody’s supermarkets are dominated by big players,” co-founder [...]
It’s time to take a chainsaw to red tape November 19, 2025 Britain’s regulatory state is about the only thing that’s growing under this Labour government, says Andrew Griffith As business now know, words are cheap – it’s actions that count. Rachel Reeves has spoken at length about her drive to deregulate the city, from her Mansion House speech in the summer to a recent deregulatory launch. [...]
City watchdogs balloon despite deregulation drive November 18, 2025 Calls for the Chancellor to accelerate her City-wide deregulation push grew on Monday after freshly obtained figures revealed headcount at financial regulators has ballooned by over 50 per cent in the past decade. According to data shared exclusively with City AM, nearly 4,500 more staff work at the City’s five largest regulators than did 10 [...]
Businesses back themselves – but does their government? November 14, 2025 Three-quarters of SME leaders are confident about their own growth prospects heading into 2026, yet only 39 per cent trust the government to create conditions for that growth to happen, says Mike Hackett Here’s the paradox keeping Britain’s economy afloat: three-quarters of SME leaders are confident about their own growth prospects heading into 2026, yet [...]
Rightmove faces £1bn legal action over ‘unfair’ fees to estate agents November 13, 2025 A legal claim estimated at £1bn is in the works against property portal Rightmove, accusing the company of charging thousands of UK estate agents excessive and unfair prices to list properties. The legal action, led by former Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) panel member Jeremy Newman, along with a team of lawyers at Scott+Scott UK [...]
The Debate: Should the BBC licence fee be scrapped? November 12, 2025 The BBC is facing an 'existential crisis' according to some. But is it time to scrap the licence fee altogether?