British firms brace for ‘eye-watering’ April cost hikes April 1, 2025 Businesses across the UK are bracing for one of the worst weeks of cost hikes in recent history, with industry groups warning that the “eye-watering” rise in firms’ overheads will hamper investment and hiring, and result in higher prices at the till. Hikes to the minimum wage and employers’ National Insurance contributions announced in October’s [...]
Shop prices fall again but ‘inflation is coming’ April 1, 2025 Shop prices fell again in March but a retail body has warned higher business taxes mean inflation is on the horizon. Retail prices have been in deflation since August 2024, primarily driven by deep discounting by non-food retailers. Shop price deflation was 0.4 per cent year on year in March, against a decline of 0.7 [...]
Council pay: Westminster tops ‘town hall rich list’ with 73 staff on over £100k March 31, 2025 Westminster City Council has topped a national ‘town hall rich list’ with 73 staff rewarded with over £100,000 last year. The central London borough council also had the most employees nationwide – at eight – receiving more than £200,000 in total remuneration, in 2023-24, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA). While 13 more Westminster staff [...]
Large chunk of in-house lawyers rate top law firms as ‘poor’ value for money March 31, 2025 A new report says in-house legal teams are frustrated with the quality they receive from external law firms as legal fees are increasing
UBS says buy gold miners Endevour, Barrick and Franco-Nevada March 31, 2025 Gold prices hit a new high of $3,127 (£2,416) earlier today, taking gains over the past week to 3.2 per cent as investors flocked to the safe haven amid increasing concern about the economic risks of US president Donald Trump’s tariffs. However, analysts at UBS have argued that miners, not gold, are the better buy. [...]
US tariffs: UK expects to be hit by Trump taxes this week, No10 admits March 31, 2025 The UK expects to be hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs this week, No10 has said, amid frantic discussions to secure an exemption for UK businesses. The government has been trying to negotiate to spare British exports from the taxes on imports into the US which are set to come into force later this week on [...]
FTSE and Europe in the red as US markets open on a downturn March 31, 2025 The latest escalation in Trump’s trade war painted global markets red on Monday. This new headache came ahead of Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2, which has investors bracing for a broad set of fresh tariffs. The President will slap 25 per cent tariffs on all automotive imports in the US from Wednesday, with [...]
CFO retirements hit six year high amid increasing regulatory burdens March 31, 2025 Over 15 per cent of chief financial officers (CFOs) left their roles at listed companies over the last year due to heightened regulatory requirements. CFO departures reached their highest rate in six years for the UK and US, according to research from Russell Reynolds Associates. This has caused the average tenure of the executive members [...]
UK mortgage approvals dip in February March 31, 2025 Mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased again in February as gains in consumer credit borrowing slowed down by £300m compared to January, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. House buying appeared to slow down as lenders approved around 65,500 mortgages in February, compared to some 66,100 in January. January saw a decrease of around [...]
FTSE 100 and global markets slump and gold surges amid tariff panic March 31, 2025 The FTSE 100 dipped 0.7 per cent as markets opened on Monday, with the FTSE 250 down a further 1.28 per cent. The moves followed a sharp drop in Asian markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 plummeted more than four per cent overnight, amid a global market panic as investor and consumer confidence drops ahead of [...]