UK unemployment rate to hit 5 per cent next year, EY predicts November 3, 2025 The UK’s unemployment rate is set to rise to five per cent in the beginning of next year before falling back, a leading forecaster has said. In its latest update on forecasts for UK growth, EY ITEM Club has suggested that the UK jobs market is set to see a further decline in the next [...]
Business confidence at ‘rock bottom’ as tax rumours spook directors November 1, 2025 Business confidence remained at “rock bottom” in October as Budget rumours test executives’ nerves amid fears of rising costs and a collapse in growth, a top industry group’s survey has indicated. Rachel Reeves has publicly said that tax hikes are under consideration at this year’s Budget while rumours have suggested big businesses could be hit [...]
Will the Autumn Budget push up inflation? October 30, 2025 For a few weeks, there was one thing Rachel Reeves appeared to speak about more than anything else: inflation. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed inflation hit 3.8 per cent in the year to September, nearly double the Bank of England’s target rate. The IMF and the OECD said the UK [...]
The tax trap catching thousands of working pensioners October 30, 2025 Thousands of working pensioners found themselves ensnared in the income tax trap last year, as frozen thresholds yanked them into the higher tax bracket. According to a freedom of information request to HMRC by Interactive Investor, 77,000 pensioners found themselves paying 60 per cent income tax, up from just 34,000 three years ago. It was [...]
Record number of UK businesses face financial woes ahead of Budget October 30, 2025 The number of UK businesses in ‘critical’ financial distress has surged as the economy cries out for certainty in Rachel Reeves’ November Budget. The number of businesses in ‘critical’ financial distress surged 78 per cent year-on-year, to 55,530 in the third quarter of 2025, up from 31,201 in the same quarter last year. The latest [...]
Business owners still plan staff cuts due to last year’s NICs raid October 30, 2025 Nearly half of business owners are still planning to reduce headcounts in response to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £25bn tax hike on employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs), a new survey has indicated, pointing to the long-lasting economic effects of a brutal tax raid in her first Budget. Reeves made sweeping tax hikes last year to fund [...]
Is Next still a bellwether for the UK high street? October 30, 2025 Next sailed past its projected sales figures this Autumn, the high street stalwart told markets on Wednesday, despite wider issues in the UK high street. Overall sales rose 10.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to October 25, far above guidance of 4.5 per cent, with international sales growth at 38.8 per cent quarter on [...]
FOMO worries drive investors to get their hands on gold October 30, 2025 Global demand for gold hit record breaking highs in the recent financial quarter, as investors continue to pay significant amounts in order to get their hands on the asset amid fears of missing out on the rally. The precious metal has soared over the course of the year, storming to $4,381 (£3,308.64) this month, with [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to rule out income tax raid at the Budget October 29, 2025 Keir Starmer dodged questions on whether Labour would raise income tax, VAT or national insurance, the clearest sign yet that the government is looking at breaking key party manifesto commitments on taxes. During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch grilled Starmer on whether Rachel Reeves was laying the groundwork for an income tax raid [...]
Businesses put brakes on investment before Budget October 28, 2025 UK businesses are putting investment and hiring plans on ice ahead of next month’s eagerly anticipated Budget, fearful the Chancellor will squeeze business to plug the UK’s fiscal shortfall for the second time in as many years. According to a fresh poll of small and medium-sized businesses, more than four in five (84 per cent) [...]