What do founders really think of Labour? June 27, 2025 The mood among Britain’s founder community has shifted, with 84 per cent now saying they don’t believe the Labour government understand their needs as entrepreneurs, says Eamonn Ives Last week, the government announced that serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge would be joining the Treasury as Britain’s first-ever entrepreneurship adviser. New polling from The Entrepreneurs Network suggests [...]
Starmer thanks business for shouldering tax burden June 26, 2025 Keir Starmer has thanked the British business community for bearing the brunt of his government’s tax raid in last year’s Budget, acknowledging he had asked a lot of UK plc since entering office. Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, the Prime Minister said the £23bn hike to employer national insurance contributions (NICS) [...]
Have developed countries discovered the ideal corporate tax rate? June 26, 2025 International tax was once a veritable jungle of exotic regimes, but now many jurisdictions seem to have settled on a natural equilibrium of around 25 per cent, says Tim Sarson An interesting and rather consequential piece of tax policy from the new German coalition government might have slipped under your radar recently – they are [...]
Carried interest: London’s dealmakers bask in rare lobbying win June 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves went into the 2024 general election promising to close the “carried interest loophole” long-enjoyed by “asset stripping” private equity executives. So far, though, the sector has escaped the worst of Labour’s promised crackdown, writes Ali Lyon. For someone who once argued private equity was full of asset strippers driving beloved British businesses to [...]
City regulators’ growth mandate ‘pointless’ without major reform June 13, 2025 The “entrenched culture of risk aversion” at the City’s two flagship regulators has stymied meaningful progress on their mandates to aid economic growth, a House of Lords report has argued, despite persistent pressure from Westminster for them to boost UK competitiveness. In a withering assessment of the efforts made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) [...]
Nissan: UK taxpayers to guarantee £1bn loan amid Sunderland plant uncertainty May 28, 2025 The UK taxpayer is to guarantee a £1bn loan to Nissan as part of a major restructuring of the struggling carmaker. The Japanese firm announced plans earlier this month to axe 20,000 jobs globally and shut down seven factories. Confirmation of the restructuring piled uncertainty onto the future of its Sunderland facility, which is the [...]
P60 form deadline is approaching – what you need to know May 23, 2025 Employers are required to issue a P60 form by May 31 – but what is the form actually for, and what happens if your employer misses the deadline? If you’ve been employed for some time, you’ll have heard of a P60, but understanding what it is and why it matters is vital. If you’re an [...]
Reeves’ impossible mission to save the public finances – in four charts May 22, 2025 Government borrowing spiked in April, according to official data, in a stark illustration of the difficult fiscal tightrope that the Chancellor Reeves is walking. The £20.2bn in monthly borrowing was steeper than economists’ prediction of £18bn. So, Reeves might have shivered when she heard Keir Starmer tell the House of Commons winter fuel payments would [...]
Why your next car will be grey and your next thought will be too May 22, 2025 The decline of colour in consumer products mirrors a troubling trend in AI, where bias and homogenisation threaten intellectual diversity, societal fairness, and the integrity of human knowledge itself, says Lewis Liu This week we’re getting a new family car. When my wife texted me the website showing color choices, I texted back, “I cannot [...]
Reeves’ risky borrowing policies prompt fresh tax hike fears May 20, 2025 Tax hike fears are gathering pace as rising borrowing costs are set to wipe out around half of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ small £9.9bn headroom, a leading economics consultancy has warned. Reeves made around £14bn in spending cuts at her Spring Statement two months ago but left herself with one of the slimmest fiscal buffers on [...]