Businesses set to reclaim £1.8bn in rates appeals as tax overhaul bites March 23, 2026 Businesses are expected to claw back around £1.8bn in business rates payments through appeals, according to government modelling. The figures, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act to tax firm Ryan, suggest the Treasury expects a sizeable volume of successful challenges to new rateable values when the latest business rates lists come into force in [...]
Reeves faces £20bn fiscal hole as energy crisis drives up costs March 22, 2026 Rachel Reeves is facing a potential £20bn shortfall in her spending plans as the Middle East energy crisis pushes up inflation, borrowing costs and pressure on public sector pay. The warning from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) comes as surging oil and gas prices begin to feed through into the wider economy, threatening to [...]
Fortress prepares to offload Majestic Wine March 21, 2026 The owner of Britain’s biggest specialist wine retailer are drawing up plans to offload the retailer nearly seven years after its operations were bought out of its London-listed company. Fortress Investment Group is in the early stages of preparing to launch a sale of Majestic Wine, which it took control of in 2019, according to [...]
Starmer to convene emergency meeting over Iran war price shock March 21, 2026 Prime Minister Keir Starmer will convene an emergency meeting of senior cabinet ministers and the governor of the Bank of England next week, as prices continue to soar amid the Middle East conflict. The meeting will discuss plans to help households with the rising cost of living caused by the war in Iran, according to [...]
Does Dyson’s Bath investment signal a new era for Prem Rugby? March 21, 2026 If there was major surprise surrounding Red Bull’s entry into Prem Rugby last year, fewer heads would have been turned by news this week of Sir James Dyson’s investment in Bath. Probably because plenty had assumed he was paying for the upkeep of the club anyway. The deal – likely a debt-for-equity swap – by [...]
Look to Infinite to keep streak going for red-hot Newnham March 20, 2026 SHA TIN’s supporting card for the BMW Hong Kong Derby contains a couple of interesting gallopers who have already caught the public’s imagination in recent times. The Francis Lui-trained three-year-old Hot Delight has already been ear-marked as a potential Classic Series contender for next season following a couple of dominant displays over the course and [...]
Luke Littler face trademark is ‘smart move’ but ‘not silver bullet’, say experts March 20, 2026 Darts sensation Luke Littler’s has moved to trademark his face amid AI deepfake fears. We ask IP and sports rights experts whether it checks out. Luke Littler and Matthew McConaughey aren’t obvious bedfellows, but the all-conquering darts sensation has taken a leaf out of the Magic Mike star’s playbook. Littler has lodged an application with [...]
UK economy in peril as growth forecast slashed in half March 20, 2026 The UK economy is set to grow by half as much as economists predicted before the war in Iran started as forecasters attempt to make sense of how deep the impact of an energy price shock will be. A leading economics consultancy has revised its UK growth forecast down to 0.4 per cent compared to [...]
Lyten to Establish a Lyten Industrial Hub in Poland March 20, 2026 Lyten announces the establishment of its next Lyten Industrial Hub in Gdańsk, Poland. The hub will bring together key manufacturing and digital resources to support energy infrastructure, the development of artificial intelligence, and the defense sector. In February 2026, Lyten announced the creation of the first Lyten Industrial Hub in Sweden, combining battery production operations there with a 1 GW AI data center campus. Lyten plans to complete its feasibility study by the end of 2026 to determine the full development plan
Borrowing costs soar to post-financial crisis high in blow to Reeves March 20, 2026 UK government borrowing costs have soared to their highest level since the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, with markets frightened by the state of public finances in the face of another global price shock. Gilt yields have inched up over the course of the week, with the ten-year gilt yield topping 4.9 per cent on [...]