Business confidence edges up despite tax raid fears August 29, 2025 Business confidence has grown for the fourth consecutive month, according to a fresh survey, despite rising speculation of a fresh tax raid on businesses by the Labour government. Lloyds Bank’s business confidence index edged up two points to 54 per cent in August as sentiment among manufacturers climbed to its highest in a decade. The [...]
Household costs hit private renters and families in Labour’s first year August 28, 2025 Household costs rose higher for families and renters than other groups in the year to June, official data has shown, as inflation has nearly doubled in the first year of Labour compared to the last year of the previous Conservative government. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said overall UK household costs rose by 3.9 [...]
Reeves warned that ‘punitive’ tax hikes on landlords will choke rental sector August 28, 2025 Property experts have warned that higher taxes on landlords’ rental incomes will have ‘severe’ unintended consequences for the rental sector and the broader housing market. The Chancellor is reportedly examining proposals for applying national insurance (NI) to rental income in the hope of raising £2bn. Officials are drawing up options for tax rises in an [...]
Free-to-air broadcaster 5 to show NFL and Super Bowl August 28, 2025 Free-to-air broadcaster 5 has secured the rights to Sunday evening NFL matches, and will show the next Super Bowl. The new multi-year deal continues the long running theme of having elements of the NFL on free-to-air television in the United Kingdom, with the American football league also broadcasting a match on Channel 5 on the [...]
Nvidia stock dips despite record quarter as uncertainty spooks markets August 28, 2025 Nvidia’s earnings once again beat expectations last night, but the AI chipmaker’s shares slipped in after-hours trading due to ongoing uncertainty over China. The Silicon Valley-based group, now worth more than $4tn (£3.1tn) reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $46.7bn, up 56 per cent year on year, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.05. Both figures came in [...]
Are franchise IPOs the end game for The Hundred’s £1bn investors? August 28, 2025 Have The Hundred’s investors figured out yet how they will make a return? Look out for minority stake sales and maybe even listings in India, says Ed Warner. Never make an investment without having a plan on how to sell it. Illiquidity can scupper the most enticing of propositions. The very best portfolio managers, especially [...]
One in ten UK homes cut asking price in July August 28, 2025 One in ten UK homes registered a cut to the asking price in July, well above the five-year average, as sellers continue to adjust to a buyers market. Average house prices rose by just 1.3 per cent in the year to July, below the 2.1 price growth recorded at the start of 2025, according to Zoopla’s [...]
Business has never been a man’s world – meet the women who bankrolled history August 28, 2025 A new history challenges the myth that business was “just for men” by uncovering the forgotten stories of powerful female entrepreneurs, bankers, and industrialists who have been crucial to building global prosperity throughout the ages, writes Victoria Bateman Hidden away inside the British Museum is a little-known collection of women’s business cards dating to the [...]
Mass hallucinations: How I caught a rogue AI reporter August 27, 2025 The ‘customer’ in the fried chicken shop didn’t touch his meal. Instead, he photographed the kitchen door’s keypad and left. ‘Corporate spy,’ muttered the cashier before showing me three identical incidents caught on his security cameras. This is the opening line of a pitch I received from a writer called Joseph Wales, entitled “London’s Fried [...]
M&S takes on Vinted and Depop with eBay tie-up August 27, 2025 Marks & Spencer has announced it will launch a new resale platform on eBay as it looks to evolve with the changing face of high street shopping. Customers will be able to trade in their clothing, footwear and accessories through M&S’s first online takeback scheme, while pre-loved items will be available to buy on the [...]