Pets at Home: Demand for vet services soars May 28, 2025 Pets at Home has reported flat year-on-year revenue, with a starkly diverging performance in retail sales and veterinary services. Underlying profit before tax in retail fell by 16.6 per cent year on year to £72.9m, while underlying profit before tax from the company’s vet arm grew by 23.3 per cent year on year to £75.9m [...]
Spending in pubs surges as Brits flock to beer gardens May 28, 2025 Pubs enjoyed a boost in April during the sunny spring weather as Brits opted for outdoor beer gardens over indoor restaurants. Like-for-like sales growth at pubs reached 9.1 per cent year on year, according to the latest CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker. Sales across all hospitality outlets were 4.2 per cent ahead of April 2024 [...]
IMF upgrades UK growth forecasts despite tariff turmoil May 27, 2025 The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for UK economic growth this year, despite warning that turmoil around US tariffs will stymie performance. The global body upgraded GDP growth predictions for the UK in 2025 to 1.2 per cent, up from the 1.1 per cent it had forecast last month. However, economists at the [...]
Relentless surge in government debt is unsustainable says BIS May 27, 2025 Policymakers across the world need to get a grip on the relentless surge in public government debt, a leading economist has warned. Agustin Carstens, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said fiscal authorities have a “narrow window” to put their house in order “before the public’s trust in their commitments starts to [...]
Monsoon and Accessorize owner enters the red as sales slip May 27, 2025 The owner of Monsoon and Accessorize slumped into the red as its sales were slashed during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. Adena Brands, which is owned by Peter Simon, has reported a pre-tax loss of £7.5m for the 12 months to 31 August, 2024. The loss comes after the group posted a [...]
New warning over ‘stealth’ £9bn income tax raid May 27, 2025 The government is under fire over its “stealth tax bombshell” as hundreds of thousands of Brits are set to be dragged into higher tax bands by the end of the decade. As many as 1.9m workers will see their pay fall into higher tax brackets by 2030 as the bands fail to keep pace with [...]
Hard to swallow: food inflation rises for fourth month in a row May 27, 2025 Food inflation rose for a fourth consecutive month in May, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warning a new packaging tax and the government’s workers’ rights overhaul will fuel further price rises in the coming months. The cost of food rose by an average of 2.8 per cent year on year in May, up from [...]
Trump condemns UK net zero push May 23, 2025 Donald Trump has publicly criticised the UK’s net zero policy, saying it is disincentivising oil drilling and needlessly inflating energy prices. In an unusual intervention, the US President said that the UK’s North Sea reserves still had “a century of drilling left”, which if tapped would help bring costs down, “and fast”. “I strongly recommend [...]
Energy bills to fall as Ofgem cuts UK price cap by seven per cent May 23, 2025 UK households are set to see a modest drop in their energy bills this summer, after regulator Ofgem revealed a seven per cent cut to its quarterly price cap – the first reduction in a year. The announcement will bring the average annual bill for a typical household in the UK down from £1,849 to [...]
Consumer confidence improves in early sign that ‘the worst has passed’ May 23, 2025 Three major measures of consumer confidence all found an improvement in Brits’ economic sentiment in May, promoted by easing trade tensions and a cut in interest rates. GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased by three points to -20 in May after dropping in ‘Awful April’ on inflation fears. “The measure for personal finances looking ahead [...]