Autumn Budget: Reeves must avoid tax encore for retail, HMV boss warns October 29, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget, City Reporter Samuel Norman sits down with top industry names for a Budget Briefing. This week, chief executive of HMV joins a chorus of warnings to give the retail sector some reprieve. As high street music retailer HMV breezes into the all-important golden quarter, boss Phillip Halliday is eyeing a chart-topper [...]
Paddy Power founder: Bookies ‘scaremongering’ over tax hike damage October 28, 2025 The betting sector is “scaremongering” over the potential damage of a tax raid on gambling, according to the retired co-founder of Paddy Power, who said he had led similar industry warnings of job losses and store closures before other mooted tax changes. Stewart Kenny, who served as chairman and chief executive at the Irish gambling [...]
Why are asset managers turning away from the US? October 28, 2025 Asset managers are increasingly choosing to diversify their portfolios away from US stocks, despite Wall Street’s pronounced rally, as fears over being overexposed to secular markets grows. US markets saw a significant bounce back in recent months, shaking off the lows that followed Trump’s tariff announcement in April, with investors not yet losing their appetite [...]
Reform UK pledges to ‘have legislation drafted’ before next election October 28, 2025 Reform UK has vowed to write draft legislation before entering government if it were elected into Downing Street, with sweeping changes to Whitehall and civil service codes to be among its top priorities. At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, policy chief Zia Yusuf and the backbencher Danny Kruger said the party “don’t come with [...]
Labour’s payments regulation overhaul more ‘reshuffle than reform’ October 28, 2025 The Labour government’s plan for a payments system revolution has fallen flat, a top trade body has warned, despite the Treasury’s promise of an “ambitious rethink” of regulatory structure. Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her National Payments Vision (NPV) in her 2024 Mansion House address where she said the plan would include “decisive action to progress [...]
Exclusive: Reeves risks Black Market Britain with gambling tax hike October 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves risks creating “Black Market Britain” if next month’s Budget sees significant tax raids on the gambling sector. Industry insiders have warned of the potentially catastrophic impact on bookmakers and gambling firms if levies on betting and online slot machines are hiked in line with recommendations by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The [...]
Looking for Growth? Look no further. October 27, 2025 The fury online is palpable, high-fliers feel undervalued, and ‘Britain is Broken’ has become the ridiculing punchline enjoyed by American crypto traders and digital nomads. Here though, at a mini arena in Greenwich on a Thursday night, Looking for Growth – LFG – is not a lost cause. Some attendees are unsure exactly what they [...]
Supermarkets call on Chancellor to ‘bring inflation to heel’ October 27, 2025 Britain’s largest supermarkets have called on Rachel Reeves to exclude all shops from upcoming changes to to business rates, warning that any hikes to their input costs would further stoke food inflation that is already at over double the Bank of England’s target. In an open letter to the Chancellor, bosses from the UK’s nine [...]
Asylum seeker released in error seen in London area, police say October 25, 2025 An asylum seeker accidentally released from prison was last seen in the London area, police said, as officers urged anyone who spots him to call 999 immediately. Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, was jailed for 12 months in September for the sexual assault of [...]
Soho home to new three-story sports bar in boost for London October 25, 2025 Soho this week welcomed a new three-story sports bar in a boost to central London’s offering as Box opened its doors to punters. The 33-screen Shaftesbury Avenue opened this week and is expected to form a key pillar of Soho’s sporting nightlife. Split over three floors, Box Piccadilly has 33 screens, karaoke booths, shuffleboard and [...]